Somthing Like Liberation
by Marijke08
Summary: Loupgarou have always been hunted, but Vivian swears never to run from her home again. She's on a collision course with a tomented Aiden and a mourning father with and eye for revenge, but the real dangers lurk deep within the pack itself. GV, AB.
1. Welcome Home

_Hey folks! I'll say this once, and once only. Almost all characters and many references have been taken or adapted from Annette Klause's book, Blood and Chocolate. Suprise that. This is my first Fanfic... so please read and review my work!_

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**Chapter 1**

**Vivian Gandillon**

Uncle Rudy talked to me one morning a few months after the West Virginia disaster. "There's no such thing as living in heaven or hell… imagine being emaciated from all restraints; free to rob a bank, kill your pup and howl to your own song. You'd be out of control, and a danger to everyone around you. No matter what you did it would be all for yourself. Now imagine that everyone in the world were like this." He reaches for his infamous morning vice; the coffee plunger and I picture a frenzy of faceless teenagers ransacking the local Banana Republic. "Oh, that'll be the end of the world," and the end of red dot specials, I add sarcastically. Rudy just looks up at me, as though to guess my thoughts.

"Exactly. It would be a form of anarchy, families would divide, religion decapitated and on grander scale the earth could not support all our needs." I pull out one of the Victorian style chairs with upholstery ripped within a shred of its life by the Five, no doubt. Slinging my loaded backpack onto the linoleum with a bang I helped myself to some coffee, never the one to turn down caffeine. I glance up at him again, barring the icy chill that had begun to creep back over my heart with his words. "The point is that a full life cannot be either absolute bliss, or an eternity of hellfire. The key to life is balance."

God knows why this perfect recollection springs into mind now of all times. Stretching my neck against the almost completely unpadded seat as we slow down coming into a small town, a seemingly pointless blip on the map I glance out the window. Trees that seem almost solid gold in the hot fall line the roadside and between them I can just catch glimpses of the huge Appalachian Mountains that have been getting closer all day. Finally. I don't even mind roasting on low heat (the air conditioning broke down three hours ago) in this 'car' as long as we get to Vermont tonight. I glance across at Gabriel, who must have felt my gaze because he looked at me and grinned slowly in the smoldering fashion he seems to have reserved just for me. His hair seemed more unkept after several days on the road and his shirt was plastered to his back just like mine. It's only been a fortnight since we ran together on the river, and I just don't know how I should act towards him.

I'm not worried… there aren't enough hours in the day to worry. Grabbing the remnants of a life that's as useful as knowing that Jupiter is one giant ball of gas and storms in the space of a few weeks is hectic (as an understatement of the century) but I wouldn't have had it any other way. I just need to get away from it all, seeing Bingo's look of pure hatred, the spot where we buried Astrid and most of all him. If a small voice in the back of my mind whispers that I'm running again, I'm ignoring it. I glance back out the window and suddenly find my hand wrapped in his huge hand tightly. Sometimes words are meaningless.

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When a qualified mechanic resorts to kicking the drivers door of the oh-so-faithful Ford Faloon 500 that wouldn't look out of place in a museum and has bucket seats to match the fluffy dice, you know there's something wrong. Or just maybe it's the smoke billowing out of the engine that gives it away. Who knows. At least one thing is entirely certain; there is no way that thing is gonna cool down before next Christmas. Grabbing a small steak from the chilly bin Mom decided would come in handy and insisted we drag on the boiling day through the acrid ………. Countryside I admit I'm a little grateful. Gabriel stands back and absently attempts to wipe the black engine smut off his hands with his white shirt making long stripes that would make a zebra proud. I smirk as he walks over and flops down on the grass beside me. Typical America; cars whistle past without even glancing at the stranded couple and thank their lucky stars they aren't in our place and make mental notes to catch up on the sky-high car insurance premiums.

"Hate to admit it Viv, but that car isn't going anywhere soon," Gabriel said, his voice a husky purr that seemed to rise like distant thunder. "Could have fooled me. Cant you just see that smoke thinning?" I commented and he laughed. "It's probably gonna be suspected as a new terrorist attack, trying to destroy the ozone layer above America. They're probably mustering the SAS as we speak." He joked sleepily and lay back on the lush grass, dragging me back with him against my protests so we were side by side staring at the azure sky. I feel safe for the first time in almost a month and suddenly the plan of being at Vermont by nightfall doesn't seem to matter.

I could tell that sound from a mile away; the muffler-less roar of a 2.6cc Ducati combined with skull wrenching vibes that seem to make the air shudder in their wake. The Five. On bikes. Opening my eyes I turned my head slowly to look at Gabriel's face. He looked pained, torn between smacking sense into the immature jerks or showing them how to _really _use a bike, I guess. Gabriel's inner thought sanctum isn't exactly left on display. "Did I miss something?" I asked, three quarters sun drunk. "There was a sale on at the same place I got this hunk of metal on four bikes" "and you figured that by some miraculous chance this might rein them in?" Gabriel smirked slightly. "Ever heard of 'bribery and corruption', babe?" I'll never say so much aloud, but he is probably right. Giving them hefty gifts will make them faithful and agreeable, or at the every least consider before they commit their next act of stupidity.

I just take a deep breath and prepare for 'fun'. Gabriel pulled me up as though I were the consistency of a butterfly and we watched as they arrived in a perfect v-formation, a mirage of black leather. Temptation to hit head against concrete wall: high. Gregory was the first to clamber off and kick out his stand and I could tell just by his strut that he was the official new leader. Not a bad choice considering their last. The ghetto blaster on the back of his bike was flicked off and suddenly I felt as though I could drown in the silence. "Gab! How you doing man?" He said extravagantly and Gabriel just looked at him, the muscle in his jaw twitching. You'd have to be blind _and _without any sense of smell to not realize our problem. Ulf walked over and gave me a friendly, innocent hug in greeting. It seems unusual after the last few years to receive a hug even vaguely innocent from any of the five, but here it is.

Somehow Gabriel managed to secure one of the bikes, and a phone call to Esmé and Tomas to pick up our baggage without pulling rank. We had agreed only to pull rank when necessary, as not only was it awkward but it's better to let people have their freewill and not always be forcing their help. Which all in all is why I am now perched on the back of a growling bike, holding onto Gabriel tightly as we rounded corners so sharply we risked skinning our knees. This guy has no respect for the speed limits, and I'm positive that after this journey I'll never need to exfoliate ever again. Still, there's something special about defying gravity and the laws of speed, it feels as though you're that much closer to the edge of everything the world hinges on. Don't ask me how I came up with, that, but there is. Gabriel speeds up as my arms tighten around him and I let out a howl of exuberance that gets lost in the wind.

By the time the sun dip's low on the horizon and every tree now has a long cool shadow we finally arrive. The homestead is nestled in the foothills of the Appalachians and looks out across the huge plains claimed by Homo Sapiens below. Vermont village is almost 15 minutes down the hill… close enough to be in contact, but distant enough that we can have privacy. The wild and completely untamed forest all around seems so tempting after the concrete jungle and a low whine forms in the base of my throat. The actual homestead itself is made up of several buildings scattered around a clearing and the surrounding bush. The main house is massive, in a Victorian castle style with two wings and a large veranda out the front built onto the house where the hill drops away so it feels as though you're walking above the trees.

There are almost 20 small apartments built into the bush behind the homestead that will serve as homes for our pack. Darkness comes quickly and without the moonlight we are practically blind and barely manage to stumble into the last apartment. It's slightly larger then the others, but has stark white walls instead of the uniform beige theme. Gabriel leans against a large table and watches me closely as though to read my reactions. I just close my eyes and smile. "Why are the walls plain?" I asked when I feel his strong arms wrap around me possessively. "I was hoping you could paint them…whatever you want." I smiled and turn in his grip to kiss him teasingly on the lips before I pull away. Not a chance of that; he grabs my hand and pulls me to him and kisses me hard, the heat of him almost searing. He bits my lip and I can feel it throb as sweet blood glistens on my skin and he pulls away briefly. "Welcome home," is all he has time to say.


	2. Shadows

**Chapter 2**

**Aiden Teague**

Daylight. The soft morning glow filters through my thick curtains and I practically rip them open. It may be vague, but the sun is defiantly coming up. It catches on my pale skin and warms it to a stark alabaster. The worst part of all this is that I know I'm going insane. I know the silver cross in my pocket is pointless. I know that staying up the whole night and barely sleeping in the day just to keep an eye open for when they come back to finish the job of is illogical, and sometimes I wonder if any of this is real. Of course it's real. All I have to do is think of her and I can practically catch the wild glint in her eyes and her smell of some dark forest again. Vivian is real, and that's the entire problem.

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A school day, just like any other for the hundreds of school kids milling about the grey morning until class leashes them in for another day of learning chemistry compounds and mathematic equations that have no real use in the world. I've been shrinking further and further away from those floral vivid shirts that drew so much attention to a simple black tee that guarantees you to be left alone. Nobody wants to mess with a guy who is decked in black and 'a compulsive frowner' as Kelly put is so aptly yesterday. Poor delusionised girl, to think that she can claim to me and all I do. How did I ever have sympathy for her? Walking through the gates Bingo catches my eye and detaches herself from the segment of Amoeba lounging on the bike stands.

"You alright kid?" she asks after she gives me the quick hug I have come to expect ever since I lied to her about Vivian and the window. Hey, you're aloud to lie if it's to protect your friends, right? "Never been better. Cant you tell?" I try to say pleasantly, but even I can hear the strain in my voice and know the deep bags under my eyes tell another story. Skipping around all matter of normal pleasantries as per usual, Bingo spoke her mind and hit the matter squarely on the head. With Bingo problem solving is with hammers, not needles. "Look kiddo, you'd better tell me what's up because wearing black is only gonna be acceptable for another week, and as is only because Quince vanished." I looked at her single mindedly determined face and sighed.

"Believe me, you really don't want to know," and I'll never tell you, I add for my own benefit. I lied to protect her once, and I'm going to have to keep up that lie with more and more lies until we're completely divided. Vivian thought she was saving my life? She was the one who made it come crashing down faster then a 747 with a faulty engine.

Sunshine; the best thing in the natural world. Lying on one of the concrete courts slowly toasting as you commit half your mind to a conversation with Jem about some band that means nothing to you is paradise. Well, a tainted one at that. It may be beautiful now, but when the sun goes down… I shudder and earn the weird looks of two passing girls. Kelly flounces over, arrogance in her every line and I barely resist a groan. Can't she just leave me alone? Then I remember. It's a Friday and she's probably planning to snag me for the weekend. I glance at Bingo and she looks at me knowingly. Great. I'm in this one by myself. Kelly is almost a mirage of black… black jersey, black miniskirt, black leggings. There's a point when making an impact drops right into the ball court of stupidity and this is one of them.

"Hey Kelly," was all I had time to jam in before she completely took over. "Aiden! The police report came back about my room, you know, when it got trashed. The police think _I_ did it for attention. My mom is gonna kill me when she finds out. There's a concert down at the dome, it's meant to be really, _really_ good. Do you wanna go?" I open my mouth but find myself cut off again. "Aiden's gonna hang out with us this weekend sorry Kelly. We've got a whole line up of cheesy B-grades and popcorn, eh Jem?" But on the spot Jem looks up, nods once and pretends to go to sleep. Smart guy. Kelly looks and me and I shrug. "Sorry Kelly…" she turns on her heel and heads for the art department block. Bingo put a hand on my shoulder. "You owe me one, mate." Sometimes I feel like kissing that girl.

When darkness finally falls, I hardly notice. Sprawled over a hideous cow hide printed beanbag as the credits to some Dracula movie made before Kodak colour graced the screens I sample some more pop corn. Jem has fallen asleep on the sofa, head wedged between two pillows and Bingo is curled up tightly in a blanket on the other end of the sofa. It takes me a while to realize that she's also asleep. Glancing at my digital I can even see why; it's past midnight, way past. Pulling the duvet off, the cold air hits me and I shiver. It's going to be a frost tonight. Draping the duvet over Bingo I grab all the empty pop corm containers we laid waste to and dumped them into the already over flowing kitchen bin. On impulse I pulled the full bag out and walked out the back door.

Complete, solid darkness that seemed as dense as water engulfs me, and my stomach drops through he earth to touch China. The silence is deafening but for my heart which is almost audible in the still air. Forcing myself forward to the bins less then five meters away I freeze. There is a light thud to the ground nearby and for a moment my heart stops beating. Suddenly something soft and silky is rubbing against my leg and I realize it's only Mischief, the neighbors delinquent kitten. I wait for my heart beat to regulate and carefully pick the small slither of life that mews slightly in irritation. It takes all my will power not to run into the house, and lock the door. Carefully turning off all the lights I curl up on the worn carpet at the foot of the sofa, feeling comforted by the small purring bundle of fur contently snuggled near my heart. For the first time in almost a week, I close my eyes and sleep.


	3. Void

_Sorry it's moving so slowly... important stuff is coming!!!_

**Chapter 3: Void**

**Vivian Gandillon**

The early bird calls almost wake me up, and for a moment I think I'm back in my room in West Virginia, and any minute now Dad is going to pound on the door for school. But reality kicks in with a dull thud, that didn't become so dull when I realize exactly where I am. I'm lying on my side, tangled in sheets with a strong arm protectively holding me against him. I relax when I realize it's just Gabriel. Opening my eyes I look at one of the plain white walls. I can already imagine pictures of the pack spreading over it, stories of our beliefs and memories of the past beside the pack as it now is. My fingers almost itch to get started on this new project, to claim this place as my home. Where the heck did I pack my paints? "Contemplating?" he asks sleepily and I jump. "How did you know I'm awake?" I asked and I could feel his smile.

"You'd be surprised by how much I know about you," he teased and I turned. "When arrogance was handed out, how much excess were you given?" After a week of constant packing, these sarcastic toss abouts have almost become common place, and for the first time, someone can actually out-debate me. Who would have known he had it in him? He pulled me around to face him and run a finger gently up and down his rock hard stomach. He closed his eyes and rested his forehead against mine so I almost melted into his warm form. "Evidently, not as much as you." I gasped in mock hurt and he chuckled, hugging me tight against him. Should this really feel so right, deep down in my bones?

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This place is huge. Massive. I didn't even realize its proportions in the dim twilight of last night, I was just glad to be here. Pulling a seat out on the veranda, I watch as sunlight filters onto the plains. "You cannot seriously tell me that the insurance money from the West Virginia Inn was enough to afford this." Gabriel took a seat and nodded grimly. "You'd be surprised. The insurance company was will to pay through the nose to stop us going to claims court with Sheriff Wilson. Apparently the man went a little mad after we left." I bared my teeth in hatred. How is it that a man who almost destroyed my life once can become the foundation of a new one? The world is outright crooked.

"Where is everyone else?" I asked after a long few minutes watching the sun gradually gnaw at the raggedy shadows on the plains cast by these mountains. "The rest of the pack should be trickling in over the next week. I didn't think it was a good idea for the locals to see a convoy descend at once." Fair enough. It still surprises me slightly exactly how smoothly Gabriel took over; not even the five dared utter a complaint when he announced we would be leaving in a fortnight. Sure our pack has scars, but I'm determined they will heal with time and we can continue to live life as nature intended us to. Gabriel guessed my thought eerily. "We'll make it this time. This is our home and I'll keep you safe." I desperately want to believe him, but our past tells another story.

We are loup-garou, and the forbidden blood lust always lurks in the back of our minds. Sooner or later, the ban on human flesh will be broken again. Just maybe, now that we're so far from any large for of civilization, we can live in peace. I breathe out a sigh through my nose. A shadow passed over head and for a moment I shiver, my chest icy as I remember the silver bulled lodged between my third and fourth ribs, right beneath my heart. Aiden. Where is he? How is his mental condition… has he become petrified of his own shadow or just shrugged and got back to courting Kelly? Guilt, I've been assured, is the last thing I should be feeling towards him, especially after he shot me. But for some reason the niggling sensation just won't go away.

Maybe its just the lack of moonlight for the next two weeks that is causing these feelings. Who knows, but it feels good to be able to blame something besides myself. Here is the distinct crunch of gravel as a car draws up the driveway and my pointed ears prick to the sound. Slight weight distribution on the left and side of the car, whining motor and deep throttle growl. Mom. I glance at Gabriel, a smile pressed across his face and his eyes closed. Letting me have some time with my mom first, or genuinely not going to move? I jump to my feet and run with all the wind and speed that comes naturally, racing around the side of the left wing.

Tomas car, a shiny Nissan, is looking extremely dusty after the ride, its green tinge now a drab olive. One of the doors opens and Esmé makes such a leggy exit I suspect its rehearsed. That's mom to the T; Dramatic, cinematic and Arrogant… or perhaps chić is a better term. Wouldn't be particularly out of place in MTV. I give her I quick hug, savoring the unique scent of cozy beds and warm food… though now it possesses a slight musk tang I have come to associate with Tomas. Funny how times change; it seems almost yesterday that this vibrant laughing woman was disabilitated with grief and clutching desperately to photographs of the past. I make a mental note to ask where they are these days later when scalding hands descend on my shoulders and Esmé's gaze rises from my face.

"Been looking after my baby?" she crooned in a tone that reminds me of the fact that not to long ago it was Esme clamoring to be 'it' with Gabriel. With my back turned I can feel his quick polite smile before he turned to Tomas, decked out in a creased shirt and jeans that have heard of the iron. Tomas is not officially part of our pack, so he nodded submissively to Gabriel. It seemed he hadn't quite forgotten the justice Gabriele had meted out to Astrid. Gabriel clapped him on the back and led him away for a quick tour. Esme looked back at me with a cheeky grin. "What do you think?" I look at the dark woods verging on the roadside with relish.

"Its got potential," I say simply and help haul out the heavy and badly packed bags that lounged across everyone else's uniformly neat baggage. "If we can control ourselves, just maybe this can be home," I mutter to myself and Esme misunderstands my meaning. "Things rough between you and Gabriel, Hon?" her voice is gentle, but the memory of her shameless flirtation makes me draw back. "No! Really we're fine. How far behind is Rudy?" I ask to skirt the topic entirely. Discussing my love life isn't exactly on my priority list, especially with my mom. She just shrugged, and continued determinedly down her dismal road. "Because if there's something wrong, you can talk to me, right honey?" I looked up from the bags I was heaving from the trunk and surprised to find a serious, sad expression on her face.

"Mom, what's wrong?" I ask, making her sit down on the low hood. That's when I noticed it. "Mom?" I fought to keep my voice straight, but even I could hear its rasp. On her left hand, just where her small gold diamond studded ring dad had given her as an engagement ring sat every day I can remember was a new ring, gold with inlaid peridot. "I'm tired of being alone, Viv. I want someone to be there every morning when I wake up. I want someone to love me." The pit of my stomach sunk beneath the rich black soil, down, down to the centre of the earth. Somehow this glistening jewel of a woman in front of me seemed alien and I pinched myself to find the same colour of her skin and the lush tawny nature of her hair as me. "We're going to announce the engagement later when the rest of the pack's here, but I just wanted you to know."

My eyes kind of lost focus and suddenly all the years were peeling back before my eyes like the layers of an onion. Dad, his shoulders heaving was yelling for me to get out as a plume of sparks divided the air between us, leaving char on his sculpted, gentle face. Even up to this moment, he couldn't quite believe that this was really happening. When I finally tucked Jenny's baby safely into the first available car I turned back into the furnace that dried every atom of moisture in my lungs and left me rasping. I can't see anything, and it's only when I feel his strong grip on my shoulders that I realize I'm completely disorientated in the stifling smoke. "Girl, what are you doing in here? Get out!" he screams against the fires triumphant roar and I find myself pushed into the cool night air, and without a second thought I obey the order.

Over at the car under the concealing trees, I see another two people being spat out of the inferno that I call home. Esme tugs at my arm as I stare transfixed at the mesmerizing flames that now lick greedily high into the sky. But we're miles from town, and under no illusion; no fire engine is coming to our rescue. Some teenage boys are chasing horses out of the torched barn, the white of their eyes prominent with fear. "I put Aunt Persia in the car. Where's your father?" she yells, her voice high in panic and the fire's spell over me is broken. "He went back in… with Gabriel and Bucky," I admit and my mothers already white face goes stark. "Ivan!" the cry is wrenched out of her throat as she starts towards the doomed building. "No!" I grab at her hand, overpowering her.

She just looks at me, her eyes begging. I shake my head. "I can't lose you both." I scream and she fights my grip like a demon. Tears swell in my eyes, but I won't let her go. I feel as though I'm dividing her into so many small pieces somehow, but no matter how small the end piece, I can't loose her. I just can't. What have I done? The air seems to hand for a moment before suddenly there is a splintering crash and as though a giant's spine has been cracked, the central beam supporting the house breaks. The house disintegrates with a final plume of fiery sparks, and I scream into the night air, Esmé joining me in a dissonant duet. My eyes refocus and I'm back on the gravelly driveway by the same women. Same woman? There's a polar difference.

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I'm sitting cross-legged tailor style, looking at the stark wall before me lost in a dream when he finds me. He kneels down and wraps his arms around me in just the way that promises safety. I bare my teeth at the pain that swims through my heart and allow myself to relax into his grip, until I feel as though I'm melting into him. He sighs and pushing away the paintbrushes I've neatly arranged beside me, he pulls me up so he's cradling me in his arms. A laugh somehow bubbles to my lips and he laughs, a distant rumble in the chest cavity that vibrates against my touch. "Alright babe. You can't hide your troubles from me. What's wrong?" Gabriel asks and my heart sinks again. She has a right to be happy, so why do I feel as though someone has ripped out my stomach and fed it to ally cats?

"Moms engaged to Tomas." I say simply and Gabriel starts walking, waiting for me to continue. "I know it's great, I mean, she deserves to be happy, right?" I ask and Gabriel glances down at me. "But?" I run my fingers over the solid muscle under his tank top and he shivers slightly. "I don't know, but it… it just feels as though she's betraying dad. Didn't she love him?" Gabriel dumps me on the bed so I bounce before sitting on its edge. "Ivan was a good man, and I'm positive she loved him. But your mom has reached a point where she's got to move on or live the rest of her life looking for a second half that isn't here anymore." I look at him and feel the icy hole formed by Aiden's bullet in my chest again.

"So that's just the way it is. Are the people you love really so easily replaceable?" I demand, sitting up. He pushes me back down easily and pins me down before looking at me with a solemn intensity. "This is my way of looking at it. There are different degrees of love. Love that your mom felt… feels for Ivan goes so deep it's as much part of her as her blood is. It can't be replaced, ever. When it's gone, like for your mom, it just forms a giant void. Your mom on the other hand, has tried to fill that big nothing in her life with something… in this case, Tomas. Hey, good on her. I've seen enough burnt out excuses for people walking around like zombies because they've been gutted for life. So while I'm hoping she loves this bloke, I don't think she can ever love him as much as she loved her dad. Satisfied?"

I just looked at him. "You've thought a lot about this, haven't you?" I commented, contemplating. Just when she had expected him to joke it off with superior self-assurance or look at her blankly, it was as though he was stealing her hearts beat. He just leaned closer and kissed me fiercely, parting my lips with his tongue and dragging me into his arms. A swift pang rose in me and I kissed him back just as hard and tasted him as a full before he groaned and pulled away. "When I finally realized that losing Sacha hadn't left that kind of void, just endless guilt, I realized that my life wasn't really over. That's when I came to this pack and saw you." He admitted and I just listened as this fragment of a life he had bottled up inside himself floated to the surface. It was almost liberating to realize that what he described was exactly what I felt for Aiden. No void, just endless guilt.

I pulled myself off the bed and walked back into the dining room. "Sweet moon, I really _do _love him", I muttered to myself as I walked onto the small veranda, but suddenly I found something grab my wrist. Gabriel. I hadn't even heard him move. "You love me?" he asked, in almost disbelief. I looked back at him defiantly. "Let me go." Gabriel looked me right back in the eye. "No. Answer the question." I felt myself rise to the challenge. "Let me go first." He shook his head in disbelief and released my wrist. I smiled sweetly before his frustrated face sombered me. "Of course I love you. And not just in passing." He grinned, but I could see something between relief and sheer overwhelming golden happiness in his eyes. "Good. Because I love you some much it hurts."

To any onlooker we may have resembled electronic magnets; one minute watching each other warily, next practically slamming into each other so hard the wind was ripped from my lungs. My blood seemed to rise to a soaring soprano as we ripped at each other, trying to get closer then our skin would allow. My voice cavity changed and I howled, before making the complete change and grappling away from Gabriel who cursed before changing and giving chase. We thundered from the house and out into the dense forest, the mossy undergrowth ripped up in the sheer speed as I raced faster then Herne the Hunter down the long bracken path, the thunder of Gabriel's padded feet in my ears.

Not for the first time, it becomes easy for my to loose myself in the rhythm of the forest and forget the ability to turn the moons pure silver light into demonic red with the lust for blood I know is deep with in me. I can forget the mistakes of the past. I can become intoxicated with this simple moment and live in it for an eternity, but one thing is for sure; my ancestors and I have fled across the world to remain one step ahead of discovery and death through all the ages of our existence. But no more. I won't run. This is my home, this is my family, this is my life, and this time I'm gonna fight for the right just to live. Gabriel's footsteps get closer in my ears and I make a wide wolfy grin before throwing a violent turn that leaves him in my dust.

For now.


	4. For the Love of a Daughter

**Chapter 4: For the Love of a Daughter**

**Sheriff Wilson**

Angina Pectoris. In my opinion, this is the least of my problems. Of course, the docs tend to beg the differ. As for my lawyer? Let's just say its been seven Christmases combined for that overpaid turd. Of course, when its that same over priced turd keeping my neck outta the sling, I think I can make some exceptions. Not for the first time, my chest feels as though its being squeezed together in a vice and I gasp for breath as my hand fly's down to my pocket… to those small blue miracle pills. My fingers slip over the seal as my breath gets less and less, and I finally rip the Kid lock off and put two under my tongue and swallow hard. Nitroglycerine. Something most commonly used as a volatile explosive. In a moment as though its just an apparition, the crushing vice around my chest is gone and the air travels smoothly through the hollows of my lungs. I live to fight another day. Excuse me for not dancing in joy.

For me, it's personal. Sitting at this mahogany desk all day fielding calls from amateur cops is just a stage. After last months court verdict in _their_ favor, I've been an inconvenience and embarrassment that the department wants to hide away at all costs. Hooker and James are also laying low, but at least they're out of the noose. It's just a pain that the forensic investigators found their fingerprints on the one Molotov cocktail that didn't blow. Its surprising the fines associated with arson, it truly is. Anyway, I'm on a mission of sorts. From where I sit I can see a row of pictures. The first is in faded colours that seem almost dreamy. A young man and woman, together hugging a cute-as-a-button little girl in an unrealistically long gown her mother, my wife called a smock.

The second is almost a decade later, and it is of a gangly young girl, all elbows and knees posing on the winners podium of some Science competition I've forgotten the name of. Her grin is toothy and victorious. My daughter always was a winner. Anything she tried, she got. Which brings me to the last photograph. She's standing beside me, her graduation gown dwarfing her lithe frame as she looks past the camera to the photographer. The photo captures the wonder in her eyes, the need. She was always sensitive. She always was beautiful. She always was shark bait, and one week after that very photo was taken, the shark came in the form of one innocent looking floppy haired boy. Jason Castillo. My daughter couldn't bear the shame of telling me she had become hooked into the mob by trying to pay of some of her boyfriends debts.

So she vanished. Without a word, without a trace. Not quite true, because I managed to track her down as she fell lower and lower, though always just a little too slow to catch her. She became a collateral worker for a small company in Columbus, a city cleaner in Cleveland, a presser at a small drycleaners in Detroit, a bar keeper in Chicago, and finally a dancer in a low life bar in Indianapolis. If I had been a day earlier I could have saved her. That thought tortures me, in a way that only a father who has to bury his beautiful and talented daughter can understand. So since then, I've thrown all my concentration into finding the monster who did this to my little girl. Not Jason Castillo. I put him behind bars years ago for framing him with a cannabis possession charge. I don't feel guilty about framing that scumbag; I'm saving other wide-eyed innocents in the world. No, I'm looking for the monster who brutally murdered her.

And when I find him? Then the real retribution will begin.


	5. The Dangers of Truth

**Chapter 5: The Dangers of Truth**

**Aiden Teague **

A sandpapered tongue licks my ear insistently, and I sit up with a start. Mischief looks at me indignantly and I remember to breathe. For a moment there I thought that was Vivian's tongue… a shiver rolls down my spine and I groan. It's at least mid morning with the streaming in the filmy windows. Bingo slouches in and pokes my inert for with a foot. "Heya douchebag… having a nice beauty nap there by any chance?" she said, sarcasm thick in her voice. I just collapsed back on the floor with another groan that could fairly be labeled pathetic and closed my eyes. Of course, my eyes snapped open when I heard a key turning in a lock.

Bingo had locked the door of the only exit in the room. Something in her expression scared me a little, maybe it was the intensity. She dropped the key in her taunt jeans pocket and from the bag slung around her shoulder she produced a small black device with two metal prongs that only someone who hasn't watched 'Worlds Greatest Cop Chases' wouldn't recognize. A taser. Bingos old man's a cop, so she has a ready source of pepper spray and al the other fancy gizmos designed more to intimidate then actually stop a criminal. Of course, I've never really been on the receiving end.

"Right. I want answers, and I want 'em now." She says grimly and feel my eyebrows and hands rise instinctively. "Ummm… tell you what exactly?" I say cautiously and her reaction is to reach into her bag for a pair of cuffs. "Don't make me do this, Aiden. I'm a friend with an oversized nose for smelling out trouble, and you reek. So spill before I bring out the heavy artillery," she says taking a step closer as I take a step back. "Cuffs? Isn't that a little kinky?" I comment to try and change the topic. She just sighs. "Only in your disturbed mind… look, just work with me here. I've got work in like an hour, so you'd better talk quick."

I sit on the sofa. That's it. My conscience is coming clear. "Fine. Just put the taser on the ground already!" she shakes her head. "You can explain first, thanks mister." She has no idea how hard it is for me to for the next few words without making it entirely obvious I belong in a quacks office. "Bingo…What if I told you Vivian didn't put a chair through my window. She jumped through it?" I ask slowly and she blinks once, twice, three times before putting the taser on the ground. "I'd ring work and tell them I'd be having the day off. Why?" I looked at her. I've lied to keep her safe… why cant I do it again? "I-I" Lie, goddamm you! "I think you'd better give work a ring."

There is no one in the world who can listen to Bingo. She just sits there looking at you with those huge caramel eyes, nodding and making comments occasionally. I start by telling her the truth about Vivian. That she's a Werewolf. That she howls at the full moon. Then I tell her about the two gruesome deaths contributed to wild animals. Then I explain to her that I thought Vivian did it, so I arranged to meet her. Of Quinces almost certain deaths at the hands of that red-haired woman and her male side kick. Of our final confrontation. Of my silver bullets. "Just the way he talked to the red-haired women… 'You killed humans for the joy of it. You deliberately endangered the pack and tormented one of your own…' The ease in which he killed her. I don't know… it scared the hell outta me. But when he offered me if hand… I defiantly panicked. I brought the gun up to shoot him, but she dove in the way and I hit her. She just collapsed on the ground. Oh my God!! I didn't want to hurt her. She told him to let me go, and he agreed. He told me that if I ever speak of any of this it would get back to him… apparently there are many of them."

I put my face in my hands as though this simple gesture could hide me from the world and what I'd done. "I don't even know if she's alive. She saved my life, and probably killed her." My voice cracked and Bingo moves closer to gently rub circles on my back, a surprisingly relaxing feeling. "Okay. Maybe that wasn't exactly what I was expecting, but sure. I'll go with it. Oh, and if you don't mind me saying so, you are a complete jerk. You reject her, lie to me about her, flaunt that slut Kelly in her face and then try, and probably succeed in killing her. Ah em. Now that's out of my system, what are ya gonna do about this little problem of being scared of every single shadow?" she says, the incredible bluntness cuts me to the quick.

"I don't know…I was hoping you'd have the answer." I admitted and she raised her eyebrows. "Well, first things first… let's see if she's alive." Rummaging through a draw she came back with a phone ten minutes later. I dial in the number from memory without a second though and listen until it shuts itself off. I do this three more times, but still nothing. "No good…umm… do you know any of her family?" she asks and I think about that. "Actually, no… I saw her mom once through a window and met some guy called Rudy." Bingo chewed her lip absently, a trait I can trace right back to primary school. "What was her last name?" she asks and I frown. "Gandillon, I think." Its actually really pathetic now for me to see just how little I really know about this girl.

Bingo hijacks the phone and comes back several minutes later. "Right. I have a fax of all forty-five different cell phones in the name of Gandillon coming in as we speak. "So?" I venture and she rolls her eyes. "I'd love to meet the creature your intellect is founded on some day. We're gonna ring all these numbers asking for a Vivian Gandillon… I mean, Vivian isn't exactly a common name, is it?" she asked rhetorically. The girls a genius. On impulse I jump to my feet and kiss her on the check before grabbing the phone. A stupefied Bingo lefts me, looking at me as though the moon had just turned into an anteater. The fax in her dads office comes through and I grab the shiny paper, careful not to smudge the wet black ink. "It's probably better if you ring… they don't know your voice as well as mine." Bingo nods but makes it clear that I'm paying the phone bill.

Thirty-seven phone calls later and we hit the balls eye. When we ask for Vivian the woman on the end of the line sighs. "She's a little indisposed right now, hon." she confesses and I feel like I could just float up into the air as I throw off the mental shackles I've been locked in for the past fortnight. "Can I give her a message?" she asked, sounding bored. She declined and slammed down the phone. We looked at each others beaming faces giddy with relief. "What now?" I asked, pulling her to her feet. She raised an eye brow. "You really cant guess? You and I are going on a little road trip."

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	6. Unbendable Law

**Chapter 6: Unbendable Law **

**Vivian Gandillon**

From my position lounging over a comfy chair I watch as the rest of the pack joins us with interest. Lucian is trembling, something that has become common place since Rafe's death. Jenny is looking stronger and for the first time in months she can meet my eyes with a smile. Renata and Esme are whispering conspiritivly, their heads bent close like teenagers. Bucky is lounging on a chair, just watching everything. He's been lying lower then ever before since the incident between himself and Jean during the ordeal. Osprey, Raven and Melissa, Gabriel's little sisters with disturbingly similar faces are engaged in some sort of game that involved sitting a circle without being pulled or pushed out by the other two.

Osprey, the most observant of the lot caught my look and hushed her sisters. I've come to like Osprey, but the other two are outright irritating. When I told Gabriel so a few nights ago he just laughed and told me that if I had issues with them, it was good thing I'd never met his now dead mother. I made a mental note to ask why exactly all three girls are named after birds… or even why they were part of our pack now, even though he obviously belonged to another pack in the past. Sometimes I think Gabriel is a jigsaw puzzle, and I'm missing half the pieces.

Gabriel stands up from his seat near the fire and glances at me, his eyes smoldering. The crowd instantly hushes. "We've been here a week now, so I hope you're all settled in. We have contractors coming up for a few days to fix up things, and we should have this place completely up and running by next week. We can supply all of you with jobs, but I think it is a good idea that we stay out of Vermont Village as much as possible. If I so much as smell any of you in your wolf forms around town, you'll be getting the close up of my teeth. Questions?" of course there were none. There shouldn't be any. It seems the pack has come to warily view Gabriel as leader, especially after he sorted out the Astrid and Rafe mess. "Right. Anyone else have announcements?" he asked, his tone distinctly lightening.

Tomas stood and Gabriel walked over to my chair, leaning against its high-back. The reaction to Tomas's marriage announcement didn't really surprise me. Renata hand the other women gave her quick hugs and congratulations, but I know that part of their happiness was relief. A lone female can challenge any female for her mate. Esme wasn't a danger anymore. The males, particularly the single males of the back looked begrudgingly at Tomas and I could almost hear their unspoken complaints. He's not a member of our pack, he's a coward, he's not one of us. Orlando stood up and everyone looked at him. "Firstly, congratulations. You're an extremely lucky man," he said and Esme blushed crimson. "But, before you can marry any member of this tribe, you have to decide whether you are going to take her back to the pack you came from, or join ours. As the law decrees," he adds, in a shrug that says 'don't shoot me, I'm just the messenger.'

Tomas looked at Gabriel who was watching this whole spectacle with a calm face, but I could see the slight twist in his jaw and flicker in his eye. Inside, he was laughing. "Is there anyone in this pack who will protest to having Tomas Samora become a pack mate?" he asked, and there was silence as everyone dared each other to complain. Suddenly there was a whiny voice in the corner and we all turned to see Lucian, clearly drunk to the hilter, a clear bottle cradled in the crook of his elbow. I could have sworn he didn't bring it into the room… "You killed my son, and you're replacing him with that slimy…gutless… worm," he staggered, barely forming the words. I clenched my teeth and I could tell I wasn't the only one. "Your son betrayed you and the pack, Lucian. We have no jailors, only judgment." Gabriel rumbled dangerously and I decided not to point out that technically we didn't kill Rafe at all. Aiden did with a silver bullet he had meant for me.

Everyone stiffened, on the edge of their seats to see what was going to happen next. "I will allow Tomas to join this pack and make him a brother. If you weren't completely wiped, I would solve this issue with teeth. Your son is gone, Lucian. Deal with it." He said tightly and the threat hung in the air, bringing the tension to incredible highs before Lucian slowly stood and walked out, leaving the bottle on the seat. I felt myself let out a deep breath I hadn't even realized I was holding in. Gabriel pulled me to my feet, sat in my chair and pulled me onto his lap gently, his face half hidden in my thick hair while Orlando and Aunt Persia decided on a time for him to become one of the pack.

I allowed myself to lean back into Gabriel in silent comfort; Gabriel's self assurance make it appear that he enjoyed knocking insolent pack members into shape. I know better. He wants to protect the pack as much as I do, and to do that more often then not involves teeth over words. It doesn't mean he particularly enjoys it. He wraps his arms around me and we wait as all the proceedings go through. Several of the women look at me in a way that betrays a seed of envy… Orland turns to Gabriel. "Is the Barley Moon too soon?" I did some quick calculations. That's just over two weeks away. Gabriel looks at me and I nod. "It will give everyone time to get ready, and any of his family to come if they want," I comment. "Who is going to perform it?"

Making a lone loup-garou a pack mate like almost all other ceremonies in our Law… well rehearsed with every eventuality prepared for. Everyone in a pack is bound by our laws, so a new comer has to offer is belly to its leader. Then they have to go hunting and make a kill together. "Gabriel shrugged. "After that little performance back there, I think I'd better do it, babe." He said with a grim smile. Everyone started talking, and the meeting was about to draw to a close when Rudy stood up. "Theres one more issue here that needs addressed. I'm sure I'll be the object of hatred when I say it, but it needs to be done." He looks and me and I smile reassuringly, guessing it was assurance he wanted. "According to the laws of this country, all it is compulsory for ever person from six years old up to the age sixteen and six months precisely to attend school.

I nodded. Fair enough. Looking at Ulf, Willem, Finn and Gregory, all it this age slot and smirk as their faces fall. "That is not fair, man!" Willem stands up in anger, the other three at his back. "We're not going to school. No way. It's not gonna happen." Renata looked at Gregory with an expression that promised a lot of trouble and he backed down quicker then I could have ever imagined he would. Their leader gone, the other three quickly feel in submission and worked out exactly how long they had to be imprisoned in a classroom. Rudy glanced at the triplets who were already discussing what it'd be like to go to a new school and at some of the smaller children scattered around the proceeding who gazed at him solemnly. Then he looked at me and a moment later it clicked. Sixteen and five months to leave school. I'm sixteen and one month. Double, triple, quadruple shit. I glance at Gabriel, but his face is blank.

I open my moth to refuse, to deny, to tell Rudy exactly where to put his schooling system. But I'm a leader of this pack now. I cant yell and scream and berate the hell out of everyone here. I nod stiffly but inside I'm seething. I'm a leader now for crissake. I've got to retain some dignity and not look like a temperamental teenager. The meeting closes and vanish into the solid darkness before anyone can stop me. The moon suddenly comes out from behind some clouds, the smallest possible slither of its orb glowing white. Unsheathing my claws, I gouge deep slashes in the trunk of an ancient oak on the brink of the forest. Its not fair. They want me to be their leader, responsible and all that… but how can I do that if they insist on treating me as though I'm a teenager? I'm either all teenager, or all adult, but they'd better make their mind up soon.

Dumping my clothing a few meters into the forest, I allow the change to wash over me, sweetly intoxicating as my body reforms itself. Falling onto all fours I try to leave all my insignificant human problems behind with that body. Running alone and free up a windy path through the undergrowth that leads straight up the hill I climb and climb, loosing all track of time in the sea of smells. The bush starts thinning and supple jack turns to hazy beech trees. The moonlight penetrates the tree cover and I know I'm close. I can smell a herd of elk a mile upstream, ad my mouth waters in anticipation, but I push away the hunting instinct and keep climbing. Finally all the bush disappears and I'm on an alpine plateau, tussocks gently rustling in the breeze. There is a massive boulder atop a small ridge, and I pant as I lie down in his small cave like crevice. That's the furtherest I've had to run uphill in a while, but for the completely fresh air after the stuffy mansion, I'm not complaining.

Of course, now I've stopped, all the human problems overwhelm me and I shift back into my weak human for, venerable and alone. Will they really make me go back to school, knowing my past experiences there? Aiden's face fills my mind, but I don't feel anything for him, no love, no hate, just guilt. I breath through my nose and the vapor is like steam in the icy wind. I shiver, my skin contracting, but I don't change. I'm as naked as the day I was born, but I don't even notice. I think of Bingo, and feel a little sad. I liked Bingo, but when Aiden didn't want me, he'd made sure no one else did either. Her roughly cut blonde hair, nose ring and crude humor. The only thing I'm sorry to have left behind in Maryland. Lying on my back so I can look up at the moon, I fall into an uneasy sleep.

I become vaguely away of being warm, and of sleek fur. I turn to snuggle closer and take a deep breath of the familiar scent… and sit up with a start as I wake up. I'm still in my human form, but the moon is gone and I can only just make out his sleek fur, tipped with stars. "What are you doing here?" I asked, my voice creaky in the cold that has frozen all my muscles. "Good question. Ask me an hour ago and I would have told you I'm going after my mate. Ask me ten minutes ago and I would have told you I was keeping her from getting hypothermia. Right now though… you don't want to know my reasoning right now." He said and I just shook my head. "You think you're such a stud, don't you." He laughed. "So do you. Admit it." I rolled my eyes, and ran my hands over his lush fur, finding his head and gently stroking his ears.

"This isn't going like I meant it to," he commented and I grinned, running my fingers up and down his pelt that felt like velvet in the solid darkness. "How exactly is this meant to happen?" I asked, curiously. "It's a long story," he says softly and I can feel his chest vibrate with his low rumbling purr as I bring my hands lower on his chest. "Oh really? It's a long night." His breath catches in his throat and I feel his sinewy limbs change and contort as fur vanishes and bones snap into place. "First, I'm going to explain just how beautiful you are," his voice grows husky with desire and he runs a large sinewy hand over my frame, sending shivers through me. "And that getting an education does not make you a child." His fingers gently brush against my cheek and wrapped an arm around her, pulling her up to him so that their breath mingled in the night air.

"Then I'm gonna show you why the packs gonna come a sore second to you." When his mouth descended on mine I felt as though the only thing holding me I one place was my skin. I bite him back and for a moment it's a brutal battle for dominance, teeth and tongue. We're both bleeding, but it just tastes as sweet as first kill. He rolls me on top of him and my hands are everywhere, his wide chest, his strong shoulders and his rock-solid stomach. I roll over and he rolls with me so we have completely changed position… the difference is that I'm a lot smaller and lighter then him, so I find myself pinned to the ground panting for air as he breaks away from me. I look up past him to the slither of moon that has appeared from behind on of the dense clouds.

He marked my neck with his teeth and moved lower as I writhed beneath him, my nails leaving lines on his back. Just when neither of us could take it anymore fur flourished on my navel and spread to the rest of my body, and my claws got longer. Our voice cavity's changed simultaneously and we howled to the moon, my voice rising to an impossible soprano complimented by Gabriel's earth shaking bass. Suddenly there was an shotgun explosion that shattered my soprano as though it were glass, followed by a scream. Gabriel and I just looked at each other, the spell entirely broken. One word, put in a very matter-of-fact tone Gabriel uttered summed it up completely. "Fuck…" I looked up at him. "That was human," I commented, even though he already knew it, hearing it said aloud was almost a death sentence.

Gabriel rolled off me and I turned into my brindle wolf form and run like the north wind after my black velvet mate praying for the best but expecting the worst.


	7. Defining Choices

**Chapter 7:**

**Vivian Gandillon**

When we finally arrived at the scene it looked like hell had reinvented itself to my imagination. Dark tangy blood coated every thing and burned my nose. Gabriel changed, and pointed at something I hadn't seen. At first it looked like an abstract artists impression of the human body, scattered, bent and broken. "Oh, my God," I whispered and Gabriel entwined his fingers with mine. Carefully we stepped toward the human that for his own sake I hoped was dead. He was almost scalped and chunks of meat were missing from his back, legs and chest. I bent low and put my hand on his neck. Looking him up and down I noticed a wad of hair caught in his fist. Good for him; he at least tried to help some identify his killer. Then I feel it… timid and slow, but defiantly there. "Gabriel! He's alive!" yelped, clinging onto the faint heartbeat.

Gabriel stood over me grimly, eyes disbelieving. But then it struck. "Vivie, if we get him out of here and he survives he'll know about us..." he said gently and I felt my chin jut of defiantly. "And if we leave him here and he dies there'll be a massive search party, and someone with half an intellect will put the Maryland murders with this and come up with a connection. All it takes is a superstitious villager and we could be having West Virginia again." I looked at his middle aged face, laugh lines deep in the corners of his eyes and a lineless forehead. "Babe, do you really want to save him?" he asked and I nodded without looking at him. Gabriel sighed before moving into his old self; action, orders and arrogance.

"Go back to the homestead and tell Persia to get ready for a badly hurt patient. Wake everyone up, I want a pack conference as soon as possible." He said mechanically. I nodded and moved swiftly into the change and charged down the valley as fast as my long legs could take me, the beat of my heart loud in my ears.

I literally exploded from the bush into the compound between the homestead and the pack's apartments. I changed into my human form while I was running and hit the ground and with a forward roll I had perfected as a pup I got back onto my feet and kept running without pause. Pulling my clothing on with no regard for neatness I sprinted for Persia's room, at the far end of the compound. I almost broke the door down before the light flicked open and an elderly woman with curlers and fire in her eyes answered. "Persia, someone attacked a human, but he's alive and Gabriel's bringing him here," I said in a gush. The woman just paled and looked reverently at the moon. "is a few weeks of peace to much to ask for right now?" she muttered helplessly and I found myself agreeing.

I helped her clear the main table in her house of all the partially unpacked boxed of arcane concoctions I didn't even attempt to guess the meaning or use of. She kissed my lightly on the cheek as I turned to awake the pack and there was an expression in her eyes to deep to be read. I sprinted back out the door, taking the flight of steps down her porch in a single jump I hit the ground running. Bucky's place was the first in my way, and after practically breaking down his window, I managed to wake him up from a deep sleep that seemed a single step from death itself. Bucky, just for the record, doesn't sleep in a whole hell of a lot. Bucky enlisted in helping me wake everybody, we got through the cue of houses double time. Leaving him in charge of controlling the sleepy masses I came across Gabriel carrying the man just as he got out of the forest.

He nodded and without a word, I grabbed his feet and we took the last hundred meters at a run. "Is he still alive?" I asked, and Gabriel just looked pointedly at the deep wounds that somehow seemed worse now then before in the moonlight. "Don't get too attached, Viv," was all he said in response. With some maneuvering we managed to get him up the steep stairs to Persia's rooms and pushing past her laid him on the prepared table. I unclenched the mans fist that was closed tight around the fur and passed it to Gabriel. His eyes lit up. Obviously, he hadn't seen it, and it would have been impossible to pick up a clear scene from that pace… the blood had acted as a cover so strong it blocked everything else. Persia put a hand on my shoulder and I turned. "Go do what you have to do, but then come back here. I have some things to teach you." I nodded and headed back out the door with Gabriel.

His thoughts were masked as we walked across the compound, but when I reached out and took his hand he gripped it tightly. We've been here for a week, and already we've attacked a human. This is going from bad to worse. He took a deep breath before pushing open the door to the 'pack room' as it had now been named somehow and I could see him getting full control of all his emotions. If there ever was a born leader, it would at least have aspects of Gabriel. When he made an entrance, it was certainly an entrance. Walking into the crowded room of indignant loup-garou his voice was a furious thunder that dared anyone to question him.

"Would someone here please explain _why the fuck _a human in now in Persia's place, clinging to life after a Loup-garou attacked him?" Dead silence, akin to the grave. After a long moment, he brought out the coil of hair the man had ripped from his attacker and handed it to Bucky. "What do you smell?" he asked, and Bucky didn't dare argue. "Ahh…too much alcohol, smoke, dirty clothing-?" he said, and Gabriel passed it to Rolf. "How bout you?" once again the same answers came up and then to lanky Glyn. When Gabriel got back, he looked back at the apprehensive crowd. "Finally, a question I'm sure all of you can answer. _Who's fur is this?" _there were mutterings around the circle, but only one name was on everyone's lips. "Right now we have a rouge who has proved he is capable of betraying the pack. Does anyone have any weak kind of alibi for Lucien Dafoe?" he asked and the murmurings turned angry. Lucian had betrayed all of them and they wanted to feel his hide between their teeth.

Willem stood up from his quiet corner, round face etched with worry. Gabriel gave him his full attention and half the pack turned. "Finn took off about an hour ago…he felt sorry for the guy… losing a son and all that and thought it would be good to make sure he didn't do anything stupid." He said and Gregory looked furious. Power coupes in the five? Gabriel nodded. "He might still be out there. Okay, I want four search parties… one for Lucian, on for Finn, one on the grounds at any time incase someone arrives and one to completely investigate the place this guy was attacked. I'm gonna ask for volunteers-" promptly three quarters of the group put their hand up and I felt a grim smile twitch my lips.

I suppose this is the first time the power structure in the pack became well defined. Gabriel led the group after Lucien, Bucky headed after Finn and I led a small group to the attack scene, leaving Orlando back at the homestead. I looked at my group; Rolf, Magda, Renata, Glyn, Flavia, Shawn and new comer Tomas. When we turned out I felt like the lead bird in a migration south. My first time leading a hunt… fine, it was more like a 'find', but it made me feel powerful none the less. I'm beginning to understand the concept that power really does corrupt. When we reached the site I turned human and pointed out everything we had disturbed and where the guy had been. Then we got to work. Move over NCIS and CSI… this was the real thing and trust me. It wasn't pretty.

Rolf discovered more of Lucien's fur and Flavia told me exactly what had happened from the blood splatter patterns on the trees and ground. I'm not kidding. She just told me she'd read too many forensic dramas and watched too much TV. Mental note: actually make an effort to read that Minnette Walters mystery decomposing in one of the boxes not yet unpacked. Renata appeared with a riffle, one cartridge empty. Shawn found a dog tag with the words Zulu Seven and Tomas took one look at the bloody mess and vanishes into the bushes to clear his stomach. Coward. Moms words, 'he's a lover, not a fighter' jump to mind and I smirk before turning back to the undergrowth. Just when I think there nothing left to be found, my fingers brush something material in the scuffed up dirt. It's a small wallet with three really old keys connected on a thin chain. Flicking it open my grimy fingers leave a slick over a photo in a protective pocket of what might have been the guy Lucien savaged with a woman in the bush together with hiking packs and rifles.

Folding it back into my pocket we turned for home with all the stuff we found. The sky was beginning to lighten in the east and I realized that it was well past midnight. Not a particular surprise, I have to admit. The other two party's hadn't arrived back yet so I changed, and went over to Persia's, my long tongue curling in a giant yawn. I don't want to have to worry about this latest threat to our existence... I just want to curl up nice and tight and sleep- Persia looks up as I part her bead curtain I can remember trying to climb as a pup. She's mixing something up in the kitchen and the heady aroma of sage almost knocks me over. "He's in a bad way, but stable for now…" I gagged and she added, "its to bring down his fever. His wounds will heal just fine, but he was out in the cold for a lone time…" humans. So damm fragile, you could crush their simple life force between your fingers easier then snapping a nacho.

Pulling out a chair beside her I looked at the thick green broth simmering on the stove, mesmerized by its swirling pattern…I snapped upright and forced myself to concentrate. Falling to the ground in a comatose state wouldn't be solving anyone's problems right now. "What's in it?" Persia stirs it fondly. "Two mint leaves, a stalk of diced rosemary, as much sage as I could find in a short amount of time, cinnamon cloves, lemon juice…" my mind drifts and when she stops speaking I wake up again. "So, what's in it?" I ask before my mind flicks into gear and I blush. Persia puts down the spoon and looks at me over the top of her ornate spectacles, her silver hair still in its curlers. "Get some sleep girl! Someone'll wake you if your needed." She said and against my will I found myself nodding, standing and walking out the door to our apartment across the moist ground. Our apartment seems empty without his presence and I wonder briefly if he found Lucien as I pulled off my filthy, mud streaked clothing and climbed under a mountain of duvets. Almost immediately I'm sinking into a black oblivion of dreamless sleep.


	8. Catch22

**Chapter 8: Catch-22**

**Vivian Gandillon**

When I do finally wake up, it's not to bird song, or a hammer at the door. Its Gabriel's gentle fingers tracing the lines of my face, his expression tender. I flutter my eye lids against his palm and he grins. "I've got all the muscle, but I'm beginning to think you've got all the power," he chuckled and I allowed a happy purr. Then I remembered last night and fully woke up. "Gabe, did you find-" "No. We trailed him right up to a swollen river a few valleys over… it's as though he vanished into thin air. We've been searching up and down the river, but there's no sign of him." He said bitterly. I noticed the fatigue in the corners of his eyes and some bracken caught in his thick hair. Lifting up the edge of my duvets, he sidled in beside me, needing no second invitation. I rested a hand on his huge chest and looked into his troubled eyes. "Did you find Finn?" I asked and he shook his head again. "Vanished. Bucky traced him right up to a clearing that had been sprinkled with ammonia," he said, even more bitterly. I winced; ammonia basically knocks out all sense of smell… its so strong that a big sniff can rattle the brain cells and concuss.

"You're good at mysteries Vivie. Work this one out for me?" he said, his voice twinged with despair. After all, he had managed to loose the pack drunk and a wet between the ears kid. As for me solving mysteries, he must have been ignoring the whole Astrid/Rafe mess. "Lucian running away I can understand… he's lost his son, his pride, any place he may have once had in this pack. Attacking a human was stupid, but you said yourself that he was pretty wasted. So how does a completely wasted guy even run in a straight line, let alone escape from under our very noses?" I thought aloud. Gabriel's answer was an angry rumble. "Finn?" I chewed my lip. "I wouldn't have said so, but if it hadn't happened I never would have thought any of the five capable of being stupid enough to kill humans… and Finn always was one of the more sadistic of the immature jerks," I continued. "Willem said he was going out to check on Lucien because he was concerned about him… which leaves a couple of scenarios." I concluded.

Gabriel pulled me into his arms and closed his eyes. "Enlighten me." I thought before I spoke. "Well, Finn could have been telling the truth. He could have gone to check on Lucien, but Lucien attacked him and did the ammonia business… he certainly would have had time to get from where Bucky found the ammonia to where we found that guy if he was in a normal condition, but again, it seem unlikely when he's that drunk. That's option one. They basically deteriorate from here…" I admitted. Gabriel just waited for me to continue. "The problem is, I cant see him having a motive to attack Finn. Another option is that Finn got his muzzle wet on the guy and when he saw a drunk Lucien in the woods devised the perfect frame. Once again, unlikely, because you traced _Lucien _right up to the waters edge."

I thought for a few moments. "The best solution is to ask that guy who tried to kill him. Finn or Lucien. Do I have to close my eyes to guess which?"

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It was mid morning and a morbid silence hung over the homestead. Stepping into Persia's house is like stepping into a different continent though and the dense humidity and sage scent. Persia was surprisingly absent, but the man lying on the table was larger then life… and awake. Walking up to him I noticed a butterfly stitch criss-crossing a section of his scalp where the skin had folded up before. It really is a miracle he's alive at all, considering. He looks at me and the first thing I notice is his mismatched eyes, one blue and the other a surprising greeny yellow. His craggy face splits into a smile when he sees me. "Hey, pretty girl. Is this heaven, because you're outta this world." I just looked at him. At almost fifty, he was looking worse for wear after his attack. I decided to take the fact that a guy my fathers age just flirted with me as part of the morphine, or whatever it was Persia had filled him to the gills with.

"If this was heaven the cloud would have just caved under your feet and dropped you into purgatory for that comment," I said lightly before pulling out a stool. "How are you feeling?" I asked, trying to keep my voice upbeat. He looked at me. "Let me guess. You're um… Brivian?" he asked and I frowned. "Its Vivian. Who'd you know?" "Asked Persia. She didn't tell me anything past her name and that I should talk to you if I want answers." He said slowly and groggily. His strength was failing and he rolled back onto my back. "besides. Vivian isn't a name fit for an angel. How bout Gabrielle?" he asked and I snorted. Oh, this was making my day. "Gabrielle, can you do something for me?" he asked and I shrugged. "Sure… within reason. There's no way in hell I'm gonna be giving you a back rub if that's what you want." He chuckled. "You're a hard woman, Gabrielle. Can you call my daughter? Tell her that I'm fine. Tell her that I love her…" he was asleep before his head hit the pillow.

I sighed. There goes any hope of squeezing answers outta him immediately. Revelations will have to wait… the problem is that I'm not a particularly patient person. Persia came out from her bedroom indicated for me to join her. From the look on her face I knew that she'd heard every word. Closing the door behind us, I was glad to come into a well ventilated room. Persia sat on the end of her bed and scrutinized me closely for a moment before she took off her glasses and massaged the bridge of her nose. "Vivian, when Ross was bitten something very rare happened. The last documented time this happened as in 1873… Some how the DNA in whoever bit him hijacked his white blood cells. His old blood is dying, and every time his heart beats, his blood changes more and more from what was originally his." I just looked at the ancient women, her strong eyes ringed by skin so densely wrinkled I cant even begin to imagine her appearance as a youth.

"And that means?" So sue me; Science never really appealed to me, and after a teacher had told everyone quite firmly that it is physically impossible to change your form like a metamorph because it defied the laws of science, you can kind of understand why. "It means that Ross isn't a Homo Sapien anymore… he's turning into one of us," she said calmly, as though that were the most rational thing in the world. My head spun. This meant that there was truth to the legends; if a werewolf bit you, you became one as well. If that was true, then what about all the others? Did they all really have a seed of truth? "Is that possible," I asked wistfully and Persia nodded. "Of course, you'd need a pretty rare blood condition for it to happen. Infact, the possibilities of it happening are one in every two million, nine hundred and sixty-six," she admitted, but I wasn't listening anymore. 'Ross' had defied everything I believed possible.

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At lunch time I was still sitting in Persia's living room, organizing and unpacking with one eye on Ross. With a bit of ingenuity and a phone number in his wallet, I'd managed to contact his daughter, who was surprisingly calm. She just muttered something about calling telling him to call when he woke up, and to take care of him. It seemed almost cold… If my father had been 'injured in a hunting accident' nothing would have kept me back from his side. I felt a little sorry for the guy. If I had a family like that, I'd spend time in the hills, too. There was a careful creak at the door and Gabriel slowly stepped inside, looking from me to the sleeping man, his scalps butterfly stitch very prominent. Pulling him back outside, I sat down on one of the wooden steps that was now warm in the midday sun.

"In an extremely perverse and little creepy way, I think our problems have been solved when it comes to a talking human," I commented and Gabriel frowned. "We have a still very much alive human who knows about the pack. The only thing that made me get him out of that god forsaken place was you, babe, so tell me. How are my problems suddenly solved?" he asked, his voice playful, tense, tired and dominant. When I explained to him in so many words that the man inside wasn't really a man at all any more, his eyes perceptively widened. "Viv, you know just as well as I do that's impossible," he said, his voice hopeful. Gabriel wished he had lived in the time where there were vast expanses of forest to hide in for days and days, when we were the masters of central Europe. The concept of his world changing more and more disturbed him.

Standing up I kissed him lightly on one cheek and pulled him into the house. Ross had woken up, and looked expectantly at the door when I came in. "Guardian angel girl! How could you leave me here! I thought we had something!" he said with a laugh. Gabriel looked at me closely. "Is he _flirting _with you?" I blushed and shook my head. "I think he's teasing," I whispered. I _hope _he's teasing, I thought to myself. Gabriel just shook his head in disbelief, but by the stiffness in his jaw, I knew that he would pounce the next time Ross dared make such a comment. Ross must have realized as well, because he stopped. "Uh, Gabriel, this is Ross… Ross, this is my… uh…" Gabriel grinned at me, his eyes smoldering. "Mate." He offered and shook Ross's hand politely.

Ross frowned. "So you're her friend? Some friend." He added and Gabriel glanced at me, his eyes laughing. Gabriel pulled out a chair beside him and appeared with some photographs. "It's important we find out who attacked you," he said, and Ross didn't dare argue. I walked over as he held up a mug shot of Lucien that could have come from a drivers license or passport and a picture of a grinning Finn taken a couple of years ago in West Virginia with Axel and Willem. Ross scrutinized them both closely, taking them from Gabriel. I felt my heart hammer slightly in my chest. Finally Ross looked up at me. "I'm sorry Gabrielle, but I've never seen these men before in my life."


	9. Stalker

**Chapter 9: Stalker**

**Sheriff Wilson**

Somehow, the premature taste of retribution is strong in the icy morning when everything is coated in a shroud of white. Beautiful, but devastating to all it touches. An apt metaphor. Pulling on the thick merino gloves to prevent the loss of sensation in my fingers, I watch for the two pin pricks of light from Hooker's truck as he bounces along the boggy drive. One chapter of my life has finally drawn to a close, and not with the medals and honor I once dreamt of. I handed in my resignation to the police department yesterday and left without looking back once. Forty years working up and down this state and the only time _I _become the mistake, I'm meant to consider a caging desk job an act of kindness. In the cool light I admit that this expedition has to be insanity in the highest. I have a heart condition. I'm not even meant to leave my house. But that's just the problem. When a man is given six months to live, the satisfaction of dying with no regrets seems to take prominence over safety.

Hooker slid gracefully from the high Helix, and slammed the cabin door hard behind him, face contorted into an expression of anger I'd grown to accept as normal. I have never truly surmised Hookers interest in this venture, but good help is difficult to come by so I wasn't in a position to question his motives. "Where did you say this pack was?" he demanded as he lobbed my bag in the back, breaking my line of thought. "They're in Maryland. That's where all the documentation my lawyer got came from," I said gruffly, stepping up into the high cabin carefully. Not too carefully. My heard went tight for a moment before it relaxed as the motor underneath us sprang into gear. "Thought as much. There was a report on the Late Night News about some bodies that coroners have decided have been savaged by a rare type of Alaskan wolf in Maryland." Hooker is a man of few words, but what he chooses to say always makes you surprised by the depth of his knowledge. "Who?" I asked softly and he spun the wheel to avoid a tree illuminated for a split second in the head lights.

"A middle aged biker from some gang and a chief at the back of some restaurant, both in the same suburbs, in the space of a week," he said quietly and I sighed internally. At least it was not a young woman. That would have been too much. The sunlight rose across the road between the cypress groves by the time we hit the main road, and this time I had a goal, a plan. At my feet lay the road that would lead me to him… and when I did I could make him understand what it feels like to lose the person who holds your heart.


	10. Persuasion

**Chapter 10: Persuasion**

**Aiden Teague**

Sometimes I think my mouth is connected to a completely different person. My body trembles, and I fight the desire to turn in the other direction and keep running so the sun can never set on me again. But then, before I can refuse the words roll out of my mouth- "How do we find out where she lives?" Bingo looked at me as though I had the intelligence of algae. "This phone number has a Vermont code on it… and lets face it. Every man, woman and child will know if there are new people in the area. It'll be easy," she said, conveniently forgetting that Vermont is twice the size of Maryland. "You're kidding me, right? My dad'll put me in military camp until I'm twenty-five if I leave during a school week… besides, what do I tell him? I'm going in search of a pack of murderous werewolves because I feel _guilty_." Bingo just rolled her eyes. "We haven't even started planning and you're already making as many excuses as possible not to do this. Look, do you think you're ever going to be at peace with this if you don't confront her?" she pointed out, watching my face closely and I gritted my teeth. Here stands my problem, if I go up there for no 'real reason' I probably wont make it out in one piece. I'm beginning to think that I don't really care. But Bingo? I'm not going to risk her.

"Fine, but I'm doing it alone," I said firmly as she unlocked the door. She snorted. "Over my dead, decomposing body." I winced. That was probably exactly what she would be if she came with me. "Look, you screwed up jerk, you stuffed up. You probably almost killed Viv. You probably are the real reason any of these deaths happened in the first place… you said that Astrid was trying to frame Vivian. Oh, and I forget. Did you _lie _to me or was that just my imagination? Forget it, even if you don't come, I've gotta see her." Now _that _surprised me. "Why in Gods name do you want to see her? You don't even know her," I demanded and she picked up the taser, causing my to inch back slightly. "Guys. So self-centered. Seriously, you'd think the entire universe rotates around _you_." She sarcastically told my, flicking up the on switch so a fuzzy line of blue electricity jumped between the two metal prongs.

"I liked Viv. She was a mate. You stick by your mates." She said those words as though they were so obvious. As though it was one of the rules that governed the world. Stick by your mates. If that was something you garnered points for in Saint Peters court I was in serious trouble. "Look at it this way. I'm the brains of this operation, and you're the only one with a full license. You _need _me." I groaned. Her nose was scrunched up as I'd seen it occasionally before. The time she told her parents she was going to get her nose pierced. The time she told our home teacher to go stick his assignment somewhere painful in primary school. A sure fire sign she wasn't going to give an inch. "Fine," I grudgingly accepted and she instantly grinned. "I knew your better sense would prevail," she told me wisely and I smirked. "Fine, but I mean what I say about not going during the week. He told me that being an 'uncontrollable minor' wasn't the worst he could do if I didn't start wearing some 'normal' clothing."

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Driving slowly past the tall double storied house on the verge of the river bank that wove through these back water suburbs in a reconnaissance, the house looked oddly forlorn with no cars parked outside. Every time I'd come to pick up Vivian there'd almost been a pile up on the street. Bingo yawned into the back of her hand, looking pretty relaxed in her oldest jeans and a silk tee she'd steadily refused to throw out, even when the dry cleaners told her that it was beyond repair and they'd started using it as a rag. Looking up at that house, I kept feeling the darkness of the upstairs room- Vivian's room- burn into my mind. On impulse I parked up and pulled myself out of the too small car and onto the road. I glanced down at Bingo who was cleaning the cuticles of her nails absentmindedly and told her I'd be back in a minute. Glancing suspiciously at the neighboring houses, I crossed the yard and slipped around to the back of the old house and the reedy river bank just a few meters away.

There was the same trellis I'd clamored up that time. I remember that well. I was so confused by how a person could become ill so quickly, and decided that she was just trying to get rid of me. If only I'd known the truth… that's a lie, if I'd known the truth I probably would have freaked out pretty badly and slung _myself _into a cozy mental asylum. Once again impulse took over and I was pulling myself up the vine trellis before I thought twice. It wasn't difficult, but for some reason my heart jumped into my throat as I reached the top and looked into the room… It was both completely different and exactly the same as the one other time I'd been up here. The incredible montage of the forest and wolves had been half obliterated by slashes of white paint and the mattress was now stripped of everything except a floral mattress that had seen better days. A thick layer of dust lay over everything. Something caught my eye- a perfect imprint of a hand, a distorted, almost mutilated hand, was pressed to the wall. I grimaced and quickly clambered down the trellis. Here was an angle I hadn't considered- I may have injured her so badly she got kinda stuck in the middle. Holy hell in a hand basket.

Some emotion surged into me at this thought. Pity? Fear? Disbelief? Disgust? Repulsion? The best adjective I can come up with is pain. The pain that she must have felt and could quiet possibly still be feeling. I hit the ground and rounded the corner of the house quickly. Picture this; I drive 300miles north, somehow actually manage to find her house. I walk up to the front doorstep, and she answers he door. What the hell can I say to her? Well, presuming I live long enough to say anything, that is. I crossed the clear road and slung back into the low car with ease, slightly depressed. Bingo had completed one hand, silently waiting for me to talk. It's amazing to have a person who knows you better then you know yourself. I wonder if everyone has somebody like that, or if I am one of the lucky. "They're well and truly gone. Place has been deserted." Bingo nodded. "How does next weekend suit?"


	11. Deception

**Chapter 11: Deception**

**Vivian Gandillon**

Ditto the fact I'm half pack leader. Ditto the fact that I'm the only one Ross'll talk more than two words to. Ditto the fact that this place has some serious repairs needed done urgently, and I could help. It's a Monday, and guess what that means? I have to admit, I was feeling more than a little feral when I woke up this morning in my wolf skin entwined like a Celtic know with Gabriel. But since descending from the rocky ledge too early as the sun began to rise so I could have a shower- somehow I think turning up on my first day of school covered in dirt and leaves would _not _be a good advertisement for our establishment- I'm feeling anything but. Gabriel followed me up to the front door, his grip on my hand firm as he murmured everything that could be done in a shower into my ear if you have another person to help you until Bucky strolled up, calling him away to sort out some dispute between the five. He gave me a once over before regretfully letting me go and strolling to solve the problem. Any other time I might have snapped at Bucky to let the five solve it themselves, but I suspect I'll never get to school it I let Gabriel in my shower.

After a shower that felt as though it was peeling away all the raw memories from the night before layer by layer I sifted through my diminished wardrobe, making a mental note to check Esmé's for additions. Finally decided on a crimson sundress that seemed to blend with my Tawny hair (or so according to Renata) I pulled it over my head, scrunched up my hair and pausing in front of the mirror realized that the dress came mid thigh, and was going to ride _a lot _higher when I sat. With a sigh I changed into a pair of fitted Levis in dark navy and a muscle top. I looked around automatically, before I remembered I'd burnt all reminders of my Maryland High school, including bag, books and papers. Shrugging, I looked remorsefully at the still perfectly white walls of the flat before turning out the front door, almost colliding with Gabriel. "Damm. I was hoping-" "I know what you were hoping, and it's not going to happen because I need to get to school today- not next moon," I pointed out, feeling a little depressed. Words can't describe how much I'd prefer being able to spend today investigating Gabriel's finer points, but if it was an education I had to receive, I was going to get it without complaining or die trying. If it occurred to me that these next three months of school were going to be a test to see if I had what it took to be the queen of this pack, I kept it in the back of my mind.

Gabriel whistled low and long, settling for swinging me into his arms and carrying me across the courtyard to the car park. "You drive a hard bargain, Viv. Sure you don't want to reconsider?" he asked, somehow knowing damm well the position I'd put myself into. I stubbornly refused to answer, lightly falling to my feet as we entered the car park, filled with vehicles in variation spreading from Rudy's Alfa Spider (he came up when Gabriel called him following the unsolved savaging on Saturday night) to the five's beaten up bikes. _I _headed for the Spider, but Gabriel dragged me towards _his _bike- the biggest, beefiest bike I've ever seen that had arrived in one of the moving vans. "No. No way. Not at this time in the morning. People actually _sleep _in Vermont," I pointed out but Gabriel just grinned. "You deprived me of a shower," he softly rumbled, his eyes going soft, as though that was justification enough. "Actually, _you _deprived _you _a shower, but I get your point." I swallowed. The last time I'd been on that bike it was getting a ride to a concert to try and win Aiden back… and it hadn't ended well.

When Gabriel sits on a motorbike, I'm not quite sure what it is, but there is almost this instinctive reaction to ride it as hard and fast as possible. All very well if you have a death wish. Not so good if you're holding on for dear life as you skid and slide at disturbing speeds down the windy gravel road down to Vermont, howling in the complete exhilaration of it. And that's the best way I can describe the experience. Exhilarating. Hitting the formed tar sealed road the speed dropped substantially and as the untamed countryside on the verge of the national park I allowed my fingers to slip beneath his olive shirt and wander the groves of his rock hard stomach, raising goose-bumps. How do I hold power over him like this? Sliding through the village for the first time, I pressed my face into his back, not really wanting anything to do with the civilization I can never seem to escape. The vibrations of the bike slowed and I looked up to see that we were at the gate of a surprisingly large high school- it must cater for all of Vermont. Students all decked out in various shades of pastel milled around, sitting on the brick work, screaming bloody murder and walking blindly to the next class. Everyone turned to look as Gabriel drove up and I grinned.

"You'd better stop before I get a bad reputation," I murmured teasingly into his ear. Suddenly he gunned the engine, skipping the footpath and coming to rest in the smack centre of the entrance. I moved to slide off but in some impressive flexibility he pulled my over until I was trapped between him and the engine, gripping his waist to keep from falling. "Now wouldn't that be devastating," he whispered, his face brushing mine before I covered his lips with my own, drawing him deep into a passionate kiss that left me oblivious to the crowds of gaping students. Finally, we pulled apart. "Thank you for ruining this for me," I whispered softly into his ear and he raised his head to softly bite my earlobe. "Oh, I haven't done anything yet. I have plans-" "You always do, and this time you're going to be low on your luck." Carefully pulling me upright he smiled that slow, smoldering smile with liquid eyes as he saw nobody but me.

"I can be very persuasive," he softly rumbled and I grinned. "No doubt… but do you truly feel safe leaving me here for six hours with all these hunks?" I asked, and he looked around at the tall awkward guy who turned red when he realized his staring had been noticed. He pulled me close again. "Because I trust you. Do you trust me?" I mocked a thoughtful expression. "Of course no," I lied. He grinned and parted my lips again in a fight for dominance that sent a trill down my spine and made my toes curl. "Your lips say no, your actions say yes," he whispered before releasing me onto the footpath. He had me on that one. Slightly louder as the bike rolled back onto the street he called, "have a nice day, Viv." I watched as he vanished back up the street, the air vibrating with the engines growl until he was gone and I felt a feeling of loneliness wash over me that I hadn't felt in what feels like so long. Slowly I sighed through my nose, and glanced across at the buildings. Grudgingly I took a single step so I was standing inside the school yard, when every molecule of my body longed to be 20 kilometers from here, on a rocky ledge staccatoed by small pebbles a jet black almost like obsidian and lined on one side by thick rugged bush.

I gritted my teeth hard and took another step and another. The third step came easier, and suddenly I was walking fluidly towards the flaky building with the painted 'office' sign. But out of the corner of my eye I kept seeing Bingo's wicked grin, Jem's skin head cut and Aiden's exotic tees, but the instant I turned my head I realized that the people looked nothing like any of the amoeba. But the people here functioned almost like that pack, and this gave me comfort. They all walked around in tight groups, occasionally joining and merging, all engrossed in their own affairs. That's not quite correct- the girls stole glances at me and the guys openly stared. But this was not like Maryland, and I have nothing to feel guilt for. I have found my place in the world, and they'd better bloody accept that. I glanced up at the clear sky, smiling at the slither of a moon that remained directly above. I am strong, and I could run to catch the ripe moon. I don't think I've ever been unconfident before, but I've never been so aware of this confidence. The office was air conditioned even at this time in the morning and the secretary was wearing a ridiculously thick coat. Mental note- never take a job as a secretary.

She looked up. "You must be the new girl-" she looked down at the form sitting in front of her. "Vivian Gandillon. From Maryland?" she asked as she passed me the form. I nodded. The form was just general information- Name, Age, Previous Schooling, Ethnicity, Title and Subject Choices. It was the first time I'd even thought about it, but eventually I ticked in Art, Sculpture, Photography, French, English, Economics, General Science, Mathes and something called Ethics. The secretary, who'd happily gossiped as I filled out the form informed me that her husband was a complete ass before taking the form off me and logging information into her computer. I hadn't been listening to a word she said, and I frowned. "Well after the way he's treated you, I've got one word. Divorce. You deserve better," I told her firmly, bluffing since I have absolutely no idea why her husbands an ass. She looked up from the typing. "You think so? You're a honey. Tell me, would you ever divorce?" she asked and smiled as I thought about those ice blue eyes… "Noo, but you aren't me." I pointed out and she nodded before turning back to the screen and logging in the rest of the details.

Then she looked at me. "It'll take about twenty minutes to log in all your information and make you a schedule… coffee?" she asked and I grinned, never the one to turn down caffeine. Not that I needed it- my nerves were fizzing pleasantly in a way that coffee can never induce. She pushed back from her desk on the roller chair and pumped the grinder several times before tipping the coffee straight out. She noticed my surprised face. "Trust me, to stand all the bitchy teachers around here who think that having a PhD is an excuse to give airs you need coffee that can dissolve metal if you leave it in there long enough." I accepted the scalding hot cup with a small smile. "And then when you don't get there reports typed up in time, they come and look down their noses and call me a 'the secretary.' Not the over-bloody-worked guts of this school, the secretary-"

Suddenly a tall male teacher in a white checkered shirt came out and asked "Did you manage to finish those reports for the board?" and her whole face changed into a flourished smile as she passed on a packed manila folder. The instant he stepped out the door she rolled her eyes and the smile dropped. She leant forward conspiritivly. "That's the worst of them. Lazy bum kept me up to two the other week writing reports because he was too misery to tell me in advance that they were due the next day. Jerk." The computer chose that moment to start humming like an angry mosquito, apparently a hint that my schedule was ready. Thank Moon- the woman's life was depressing. She pulled a long oblong square of card from the printer. "Here's your schedule. Come back if you ever wanna chat and more acid coffee," she said quickly before turning back to the computer. I turned slowly and walked out the door, one million miles from anything remotely relaxed. I was so strung I would snap with the slightest pressure.

At least my first class promised to be a good one- Art. And at least finding the Art block was easy- it was the only blocked covered in bright garish montages that dated back almost a decade. The grounds were entirely silent as I crossed the inner courtyard, and at least now I didn't see glimpses of the people who betrayed my trust in every figure and face. The art room as a frantic area where you had to weave in and out to avoid being photographed, paint splattered and walking headfirst into some piece of artwork being carried quickly through the halls. In this bright environment I wasn't even noticed until I was standing at the front of the class, trying to get the teachers attention. Then suddenly _everybody _noticed, and _everybody _wanted to get a look at the new girl. Surprised by the sudden lull of activity the teacher, a stocky lady with hair that seemed to have almost exploded from her skull but a cheeky smile turned to me.

"Who are you?" she asked and when I told her she looked around the class. "Everyone, this is Vivian Gandillon. Vivian Gandillon, this is the biggest bunch of slackers in the school. Now you're introduced, get back to work," she said and I was surprised with people actually did snap to. Then she turned back to me. "I'm Gwen. If you ever call me Mrs Rivetti, I will get you to recite ever American president in chronological order. What sort of art do you do?" she skipped so quickly from friendliness to threats and then to questions it took me a moment to answer "Sketching, painting mainly." She nodded and grabbed me a A4 sketch book and a box of graphite pencils. "Go draw something. Go on- scat!" she told me with the wave of a hand and I scatted… right out of the art room and almost to the gate before I steadied myself and found a grove of native trees that overlooked the field but were mainly out of sight.

I searched the images sharp in my memory- images of the back as they ran on our first night together in Vermont, Aunt Persia's aged face and Ospreys acetic one. The vicious slashes of blood on earth, the tang of betrayal. The blank walls of my apartment, and my own face in the mirror, so foreign I don't really recognize it. Gabriel's face as he looks at me, his sleek yet disturbingly powerful for, sliding smoothly through the trees and the ease which he brings down the prey at hand. Esmé's face when she thinks of Thomas. Astrid's curdled in rage. Aiden's contorted in terror. All blend in my mind and I draw the only thing I know as true. I'm still sketching as the second bell rings and students swarm around for their next classes, but I'm too engrossed in my work to really care. I was at school, wasn't I? After perfecting the bare bones I drew in the detail, pulling in texture, sensation and long, lingering shadows. By the time the second bell had rung- the interval bell- I had finished. Carefully closing the book around this image I headed back for the now deserted rooms.

Well, deserted but for one girl who unlike the rest of the school was dressed in black combat boots, jeans and leather jacket. She was sitting on a desk, curled between the heat duct and the sink with a book carefully propped open between slender fingers. She looked up at me, as though to analyze me for a moment before she pointed to the box I was meant to but the sketch book. When I did so, she pointed to the door. I laughed and sat on the desk across the room. She wasn't going to get rid of _me _so easily. She didn't try. She just rolled her eyes and went back to her book. I chewed a nail and contemplated the bare expanses of walls in our apartment until students began to stream back in and the next lesson began.

As at Maryland, the student population, male and female ignored me. But instead of caring about opinion as at Maryland, I actually enjoyed being left to my own devices, without being expected to please anybody. It was quite refreshing after everybody in the pack looking to me to see that everybody and everything arrived in Vermont as planned. Sculpture was interesting at least… I was given a book to read and a sheaf of papers and told to look as though I was reading them carefully before coming back and being given a 30cm by 30cm chunk of limestone to do anything I wanted with. Economics was the biggest bore of the century, all bout owner's equity, assets and liabilities. If you had what you needed to survive, a bit of land, your family and friends, why the hell would you constantly need to get more and more money? When I muttered as much the teacher reprimanded me that everyone should fight to improve their standard of living, and I told her I was perfectly satisfied with my 'standard'.

At this point dead silence dropped over the entire class and the teacher looked as though he was going to have a coronary. Suddenly he changed the angle of attack. "Oh really? Your standard being making out with a man on a motorbike on your first day?" he pointed out mildly and I put on my sweetest smile. "Well yes, actually. The only reason _you _think you need to improve _your _standard of living is because you're not getting any of that. When you do, I think we'll reopen this topic for discussion." It was rude, it was crude, and it felt damm good to say. What could the guy do? He backed down, pretending nothing had happened, explaining more accounting jargon that seemed to have no root in the real world. Out of the corner of my eye I saw a ghost of a smirk on the girl in black from the art room. So at lunchtime, I was more than happy to escape to the only place I feel comfortable in this crowded high school; the art room. I hadn't managed to eat today, so I felt the chunk of elk meat from last nights run settling in my stomach painfully. Putting it out of my mind, I pulled open the door to find combat boot girl had beaten me to it and was sitting back in her place under the heating duct with book in hand as though she'd never left.

She looked up at me, emotionless features flicking into some grimace before it relaxed. "Don't you have somewhere else to be?" she asked, and I was surprised to hear that her voice was not the rugged tone I'd expected, but so soft it seemed to wash over you before fading like the faint vapor off liquid nitrogen. I rummaged through the box for my sketch book and flicked through the pages, settling back onto my desk. "Nope. Don't you?" I said politely, but she just rolled her eyes and went back to her book. For the first time when I started to trace a general outline of the pack, it didn't feel right. Impulsively I rubbed it out and softly penciled in the harsh lines of the girls face, pensive and guarded. It is so easy to draw when you're subject is in front of you, instead of from your mind. Her eyes were wide and spread far on her face, her skin was extremely white as though sun deprived and her black hair pulled firmly back into a horse tail so tight that pulled at her features. She didn't look like anyone from Maryland, or in fact anybody I've ever seen before. Lunch came to a close and I slid off my desk, holding my sketch book for a moment over the box before folding it into my arms.

Next class; photography. I'd expected to be given a camera and told to aim and shoot, but instead the teacher politely told me that it'd be a while before I was allowed to go anywhere near a multiple thousand dollar piece of equipment and passed me _more _books. I was leaning on the outside of the white stucco science block flicking though them as I thought about Lucien and Finns mysterious disappearances when there was a chorus of lilting howls rose in the direction of the field. Stupid jocks? I wish. The five were an image of black Sabbath in leather and tattoos they'd donned in protest, and Gregory's face was still turned to the sky in a howl when I ran across the ground. Realizing the company he looked down and turned a brilliant crimson. "Vivie, we didn't realize-" "Didn't West Virginia teach you _anything_?" I demanded, my fury showing. "This could be the last chance we have of peace, and you jeopardize that for _thrills!!_" I was aware I my voice was breaking to the point of screaming, and that the five were backing away, lacking the guts to face the repercussions of their actions.

"Sorry Vivie," Ulf muttered, scuffing his boot to the dirt, looking truly ashamed. I suppose it was now that it struck me- the 'five' was now actually only three. I sighed. "Axel paid the price for his actions. So did Rafe. Finn mysteriously vanishes, and instead of doing something _useful _to find him, you start _howling _in the school field." I rubbed my temples. Were these males _truly _my age mates? Willem took a step towards me at these words, face looking thunderous, something I've never seen before. "How can we do anything Viv? We're at _school_. Pretty hard to do anything constructive here." He pointed out, almost sadly. Everything aside, Finn was his twin, and that's got to be some special sort of bond. I gritted my teeth. "You think _you _have a problem? I'm the queen of this pack, and I'm at school." I pointed out, not really thinking- my mind was turning over another idea.

"So you're all out here why… because you're making a statement of rebellion?" I asked rhetorically and they all looked a little uncomfortable. If Axel was here, he would have said something charismatic. If Rafe was here he would have said something vulgar. And if Finn was here, he would have argued with me just for the sake of fighting. But the meekest, most sensible of the five were all that was left, and there was light at the end of a very long tube that they may actually rise above expectations and make something more than floor rugs in their lives was suddenly possible. "Ever think that getting a job… like a professional job that would get you out of here _and _get you cash?" I asked and there was silence. Always a good sign. "Any of you guys interested in mechanics and engineering?" I asked, knowing damm well that it was the only thing they'd collectively managed to actually pass in their sparse education. Gregory fiddled with the sleeve of his leather jacket, flinky face meeting me eye for eye. "What's the deal?"

I sighed, knowing I was opening a can of worms and saying it anyway. "if you guys get an apprentice at the local garage you'd have something you like doing, cash, a job _and _you'd be able to leave school before you're sixteen and six months." Ulf just looked at me, but Willem looked interested. "How do we sign up?" I could have jumped for joy.

The final class for the day and I was ready to slump over on the desk I a combination of exhaustion and boredom. So when I took a seat in my history class, I was surprised to find it the fullest class in the school, and the students were actually alert- something I never thought possible for last class. When the teacher- a man about my height, with a goatee and tie covered in Bart Simpson- walked in everybody actually stood up and started talking to him as though he was one of them. A slightly overweight girl who'd snubbed me this morning asked him how 'Sophie' was and one of the guys did some unusual intricate handshake with him. It didn't take me long into the lesson to work out why. He might be teaching history, but he managed to relate things that happened 1000 years ago to every aspect of our lives, and making a fool out of himself and everybody else… not insensitively, just hilariously. Somehow the topic got turned to deception. He nodded wisely. "Ever heard of the Trojan horse? That was how the Agamemnon's army managed to get into the fortified city of Troy. Made it look as though they'd all left, and gave a giant wooden horse structure of a horse to them as a gift. Well, the king brought it into the gates in celebration, not realizing that Agamemnon's best warriors were inside. Presto- the city of troy falls in a single night after seven years of hard warfare over the most beautiful woman in the world."

For some reason his words captivated me. Deception. Deception. The man smiled. "But people don't always need to use Trojan horses for deception. The key to Napoleons fame and support was though propaganda against his enemies and legends of his battles. He was thirty three when he decided he wanted to rule France, right? Well, if you look at this picture-" he held up a painting in a book of a short man looking stubbornly at a crowd of men with his hand spread in the universal 'stop' sign. "-you'd think that he bravely took over a weak and crumbling regime?" everybody nodded, and I was with them. He snapped the book closed. "Wrong. This painting is a deception specially commissioned and designed to make the people think of him a heroic savior. In reality he had to be practially bullied into entering the room and Napoleon actually fainted as he went in to face the third coalition, and only his quick witted brother Lucien saved the day." I frowned. He seemed to look right at me when he smiled slyly. "Deception. The art of making your adversary overlook the obvious and believe the impossible." I left that class thinking hard.

I was still thinking hard and absently chewing my lower lip when I stepped out of the school courtyard with my plastic bag of homework. Gabriel was leaning against the huge Harly with almost cat grace, black sunglasses over his half lidded eyes, the olive tee stretched across his chest as he seemed to observe absolutely everything while being half asleep. Deception. Deception. I smiled slightly, at him, my mind turning over the possibility's. Deception. The art of making your adversary overlook the obvious and believe the impossible. Why did that strike so many alarm bells in my mind? I suppose, if events as different as the Trojan War and Napoleon could both involved deception it was a fair bet it happens else where. Deception was the five killing a second girl while Axel was in jail, and therefore convincing the judge it must be a loose wild animal. Deception was Astrid and Rafe trying and damm well nearly framing me… "Deep thoughts?" Gabriel asked and I looked at him in surprise. "Uh, yeah." I told him before going back to considering.

When Astrid tried to frame me, it was so convincing I believed I really was going out of control. If Astrid, who wasn't the sharpest chopstick in the draw could do that, what was to say that a truly intelligent person couldn't blindside us all. Lucien's fur had been all over that place, but then he'd vanished across a river. Finn disappears with a line of ammonium. What if… what if it actually isn't a coincidence? "It just isn't possible for Lucien to have done anything to Finn," I thought out loud and I could feel Gabriel's eyes burn into me, but he didn't disrupt my thought process. "Infact, the only reason we thought that Lucien was the one who savaged Ross was because his fur was at the scene…" I felt like hitting my head against a wall. What was I missing?! "Fur, ammonium, river…" I frowned. "Gabe, what sort of products have ammonium in them?" I asked and he listed them off on his fingers.

"Small amounts in Menthes, pesticides, Insecticides, petrol, raw gas in decomposing matter…" If I leave motive out for a moment, Finn never listened enough in science to know how to separate the chemicals in menthes, pesticides, insecticides and petrol, and he'd have no idea how to trap gas from decomposing matter. Lucien? Lucien couldn't even tie his own shoelaces that night, led alone be able to pull off this kind of stunt. Okay, so neither of them could have pulled off the ammonium… that means there _have _to be outside influences here. I leant against the brick wall and gently tapped my forehead. If Lucien couldn't tie his shoelaces at that time, how on earth could he have been able to run from Ross to the river so quick? He would have been running head first into trees, not able to tell earth from sky. You see, the amount of alcohol a human body can take is way more than our woven forms can take. A mildly wasted person will be a fully zonked 'wolf'. And then I saw it. This was all too neat, and framed with impossible things that we relied on. I looked up at Gabriel's face.

"What if I told you that Lucien didn't try to kill Ross?" I asked and he looked thoughtful. "I'd tell you to get on the bike and elaborate," he rumbled. Rolling reasonably slowly (and by that I mean slow for Gabriel, which is not exactly a measure of the normal person with a normal speed-to-brain-analysis-capability) I leant my head against his shoulder, looking up into the azure sky. "Is there anything else, anything else but the fact that he found Lucien's hair at the scene to suggest it was him?" I asked and he shook his head. "Well, besides the fact that his son is dead and he's always made it clear he thinks I should break the human flesh ban. But nothing that's physically concrete." I nodded. "Let's take this apart. Lucien was so drunk he wouldn't have known a pig from an elephant. Finn and Lucien have no knowledge on how to harvest ammonium. There is no way that Lucien could have done that to Ross, and no way that Finn could've gotten that 'lost'. Gabriel, I think this is a deception." At this he actually stalled the engine and pulled onto the road side to turn and look at me, his eyes serious. "A deception?" he asked, his voice soft, dangerous.

"Something my History teacher said today; Deception. The art of making your adversary overlook the obvious and believe the impossible…We've been accepting the impossible- that Lucien actually attacked Ross because somebody has planned it that way. Now that I think about it, Ross has been in the bush for the past week, and he gave a map of his locations and times in to the local Ranger. If somebody could get a hold of that, make sure Lucien gets ultra drunk and consequently stupid the night when Ross is closest to our hotels, cut some of Lucien's fur off and cover himself in ammonium and attack Ross before scattering the fur around it would be perfect." Gabriel looked thoughtful "I like it, but what about Lucian's track through the crime scene? What about the fact that ammonium blocks out all other smells? What about Finn?" I put my hands up for him to stop. "For the first, did Lucien's track smell fresh to you?" I asked and he frowned and slowly shook his head, eyes widening.

I smiled victoriously. "I'm presuming that if this person is smart enough to pull off everything else, he'll be smart enough to make sure Ross gets savaged on the track that Lucien took during his afternoon moping walk." Okay, I admit I was getting a little stretched here, but it _fitted_. "As for the ammonium, it actually only blocks out our scent completely if it's really strong. If it's dilute, surely it'd just act as a cover." Gabriel cursed furiously, looking distant as though already feeling this traitor's neck in his jaws. "and finally, Finn? To be honest I haven't got a clue… but thinking of Lucian, he's probably stashed in a boot somewhere, or in a shallow grave covered with ammonium." I said and when I saw Gabriel's eyes they were surprisingly calm. "I have never heard of a person using ammonium for so many things," he observed, his mind adapting to this new idea. I nodded. "Hey, millions of people saw the apple fall, but Newton was the only one to use it and work out gravity."

I put an arm over his shoulders. He looked at me, and I noticed the white scar on his neck prominently. "So what do we do now?" I asked and he sighed. "It must be one of the pack, and if we show Ross a picture of every person in the pack (last recorded figure… 39) we run the risk of him forgetting the face and that would be universally bad. So for now, we watch and we wait. Let the person get a false sense of security. Wait of Ross to be able to identify the person, or catch them in the act." He said, and I could tell it was killing him. Gabriel is a 'proactive' person and when he's left on the sidelines waiting…

He turned back and restarted the bike, taking off so hard I almost stayed back on the side of the road. As it was, Gabriel's frustration was vented into the bike, and I was left folding my arms tightly around his waist and holding on for dear life as we sailed through the country highways and rolled into corners. When you're going so fast, things seem to get hyper colorful, and your sight almost seems to slow down as you survey the land around you. Your blood pumps fast and some part of you gets ready to go up in a puff of smoke if there is so much as a big stone on the road. But beside that, it makes you feel as though somehow the fabric of the world is thinner, and if you keep going faster and faster you'll eventually wear through. I lifted my head above his shoulder and my hair flew horizontally. There is this feeling in the base of my stomach, the feeling you get from a long hunt under the moonlight- pure adrenaline.

Which is why when Gabriel slammed on the brakes, burning rubber for a good twenty meters and driving me so hard into his back I'd thought we'd merged I was _surprised_. "Sweet moon, what was that for?" I yelled, deafened from the enormous motor noise. He grimly pedaled backwards and standing, snagged something off a branch of a poplar. Thick, ammonium coated loup-garou fur.


	12. Somthing To Hide

**Chapter 12: Something To Hide**

**Sheriff Wilson**

Never much liked the big cities. Too much noise pollution, too many cars, too many people, all too self centered- you could have a heart attack on the street and not one person would stop and help you for the risk of being sued. Says something about humanity, that does. Taking a deep breath from a cigar- I am _not _going to spend my last six months healthily- Hooker pulls off the congested highway and into a suburban area. How he manages to negotiate the labyrinth of streets I'll never know. The smoke spreads right down to the bottom of my lungs and I hold my breath, savoring the sensation. Hooker snagged the proceeding paper I'd flinched off the dumb lawyer and looked at the defendants address- 54 Pine Crest street. Suddenly we pulled into a side street and I frowned. There is no way a man who has lived in the bush his entire life with rare city excursions could find his way so easily through a town. It reminds me that I really know nothing about the man but what he's told me. An uncomfortable fact, but one I'm in no position to broach. Still, I would give a finger to know what drives him.

Pine Crest was a suburban backwash crowded with old double storied houses with large verandas and grassy lawns. In the spaces between them I could see the signs of a river of some kind. Yes, this would be perfect for his kind. I tightened my grip on the cigar. When my daughter had been found dead in that room, so many years ago, the police had quickly derived that no human could have struck her with the force that it took to break her neck, much of her spine, collar bone, ribs and sternum. No human could ever do that. Then they dropped the case. Told me there was no way for them to find out who it was. Period. That's when I got smart. I talked to the barkeeper. I found out she'd been keeping company with a man, big, strong, scary as hell. But apparently he'd been keeping her safe from all the 'predators' in the bar, and she'd fallen head over heels for the guy. The funny thing was that after her murder he'd disappeared into thin air.

My logic was simple: why run unless you've got a reason to? And what bigger reason is there than murder? So I began to search for him- two months solid I poured into research but all I came up with was a big fat nothing. Nothing! It is physically impossible to just _disappear_, but that's exactly what he did. So then I broadened my search. The police said that no human could hit that hard- so it was easy to find out anomalies like this. One mysterious act is a mystery, but all it takes is a diligent person to link lots of mysterious events together and come up with the jackpot. You see I was right- there were reports of people dying unexplainable ways involving inhuman force, but then there was something else that coincided beautifully with this. Bite marks. Marks that scientists couldn't relate to any type of animal precisely, but was in the league with wolves. I admit, when the word _werewolf _came into my mind I laid back on the donuts and coffee for a week. I don't believe in supernatural, or conspiracy theories, but the more that I studied these cases the more it fitted.

And that is when I won first division lotto a million times… well, figuratively, anyway. On the very far edge of my perimeter in West Virginia a school girl was brutally murdered, found with a boy leaning over her before he ran. I immediately became involved, finding the boy Axel and putting him in prison while the court process carried on. I knew that Axel didn't murder my little girl, but I'm a good guesser. If these people are anything like wolves in their social structure, they'll be in a pack, and if one is held behind, they won't be able to disappear into the night. I couldn't afford to let him go. Which was why when just three days later another girl was found brutally murdered in a park and the judge had to let Axel go- it really was a wild animal to their calculations- I just couldn't let them slip from my grasp. I still remember the boys guardian- a man called Ivan Gandillon who seemed to radiate power like fire radiates the sun.

But even more clearly I remember the girl, his daughter, I think. She was tall, leggy with rich tawny hair that framed her strong face perfectly. I can only put my vivid remembrance of her when all others are fuzzy in my memory down to the way she reminded me of my Sacha; her eyes glistened with passion and intelligence in equal forms, a daring glint defied and mocked in a glance, a raw wildness of spirit… and when she saw me anger seemed to blossom like silver flame in her eyes. Those eyes…It was about this time that my test results came back for my shortness of breath and my doctor took off his stethoscope and sat on the bench beside me, telling me I had a year to live, that I was dying of some unusual constriction in the heart valves that they couldn't fix. Right through time the most dangerous people on earth are those who have nothing to lose. They drop all principal and act in instinct. Which is why I gathered all the villagers who suspected the group to be werewolves, which was surprisingly large and marched them on the old hostels run by the Gandillon family, it was stupid impulse plain and simple. We burnt the place to the ground. We killed at least ten. But there were more then I ever realized, and most escaped.

I tried to cover up the signs of arson- shards of glass from Molotov cocktails, fuses, locked doors- but the police found out and the department had to pay out a _huge _amount of money for it. I was in disgrace, and I'd failed. I'd thought I'd lost all hope, and fell into despair. Six months I scanned the news, praying for a second chance to redeem my failure. And then one day it was there. A small article on a brutal murder of a chief in a restaurant in Maryland. Wild animals were suspected. I had to tread carefully. I got every singe police case file for the following two weeks, and came up with a second murder, and a very odd vandalisation. There was nothing I could find on the second murder, but I found many interesting things from the vandalism. We seemed to travel down Pine Crest street in slow motion as I watched the post boxes- 48, 50..52……54. Hooker slowed the jeep to a stop on the opposite side of the road and for a second we just looked at the old villa, almost identical to every other house in the street.

We didn't need to say anything. It was obvious, painfully obvious that we were too late. In a rare indicator of emotion Hooker slammed his fist into the hard plastic of the dash board with a curse. I unconscientiously dropped the cigar as I saw the way he'd fractured the dense plastic I've seen remain intact in cars that have high speed head on crashes. I saw the muscles flex in his arms, and the line of pure rage appear on his emotionless face, like a demon from the depths, disappearing in a fraction of a second. Then it was all normal. I frowned. That is far past normal ability… he looked at me as though waiting for the plan and I slid from the cool air conditioned cab into the sultry Fall heat. Crossing the street I sifted through my pocket for a few handy slithers of metal. My old man taught me how to pick locks, and you'd be surprised by how easy it is to do once you've acquired the basics.

So within two minutes I was letting myself into the empty house. It was spacious, with the odd smell of forest fermenting the air. Impulsively I walked up the steep stairs, feeling the same emptiness inside I got when I arrived in town a day behind my daughter. Why was everything I wanted always a fraction out of my reach? The landing was carpeted with worn cream carpet, yet I could see a tear in the side of it, as though sharp nails had ripped easily through it. There was one closed door at the end of the short corridor, and I slowly walked towards it, opening the door knob quietly for some reason I couldn't explain if I tried. Inside was a small square room with a bare mattress and duchess, but light streamed through the forlorn room, lighting up eerily realistic paintings of a pack of wolves charging through the dense black forest full of black slashes and moonlight. I stepped into it, and jumped a the surprised gasp behind me- Hooker had followed me in. He looked around, not with surprise that I'd expected, but a serene sort of a smile.

Walking up to one of the paintings he traced the lines of a sleek wolf, different from the others for it's golden highlights in its luxuriously thick fur. I looked at it closely, it seemed vaguely familiar… then it hit- the eyes were the same golden almond slant of the girl. I was standing in Ivan Gandillon's daughters room. Then I noticed something else- a large amount of the art had been obliterated from the far wall with angry slashes of white paint and there was a print that disturbed me. It was not quite a hand print, and not quite a paw, but somewhere in the middle with loud claws and twisted bones. I shuddered and sat on the windowsill so the scorching sunlight could warm my suddenly freezing back. And then I felt it, an uneven tweak in my chest and then that terrible vice tightening, tightening around my heart. My hands flew to my pocket, to the small bottle of blue capsules. My hands fumbled over the seal, unable to turn that tiny lid and suddenly the pain in my chest seemed to explode like a white hot sun below my breastbone.

Big hands took the bottle off me, deftly turned the lid and shoved pills into my mouth and as quickly as it began, the sun withered into nothing. I gasped for breath to look up and see Hooker, grimfaced and taut. My heart relaxed and I let out a deep breath. Could have fooled me- I'm not sure I have a heart left anymore. As though nothing had happened Hooker folded his arms. "What now, old man?" he asked quietly and I just walked down the staircase in silence, leaving that illuminated room far behind. In its images I saw things I'd never imagined before; unity, love, passion, a bond that drew all these creatures implacably together. If I thought of it, I would think of them as people who could be hurt just like me, crushed just like me. And if I was going to fulfill what I came here to do, I cannot afford those thoughts. Slipping out of the house everything looked unchanged; same lawn mower burring in the distance, same oppressive head and same sun scorched myrtle bushes. But I could have sworn something had changed.

In the car I turned to Hooker. "A few weeks ago a vandalism was reported to the police, and it's pretty clear it was one of these… creatures. The girl whose room that was attacked…Kelly Prescott… goes to the local school, and the main suspect was a Miss Gandillon, but she was cleared because her boyfriend gave her a pretty solid alibi." I said and his hands seemed to flex before he could stop himself, but slowly relaxed. "Who was the boyfriend?" he asked softly and I frowned. "Gabe…. Gabriel something." Suddenly Hooker looked very interested, and his eyes brighter than I'd ever seen them. I looked away under their intensity. "And you think this girl will be able to give us a hint to their new location?" he asked and I nodded. Hooker grinned indulgently, putting the jeep into gear and sliding from Pine Crest Street.

The school was just like any I'd seen from a distance, exactly like a kicked ants nest exploded over a four kilometer block of land. Teenagers lounged in the sun everywhere munching on food stuffs, boys went without shirts in the reflected heat while playing basket ball and the odd little groups of girls congregated around the edges talking conspiritivly. I was back five years, to the days when I walked into a similar compound with belonging and recognition. Hooker snagged a tall boy with shaggy blond hair and passed him a twenty, telling him to show us Kelly Prescott. The boy took the twenty and we followed him into the depths of the school, around the large department blocks, pointed out a group of students sitting on one of the benches and shrugged before moving away to disappear into the crowd. I took over, and walking over to them and putting on the attitude I'd adapted for dealing with temperamental teenagers I paused in front of them. All looked up- most notably a person I couldn't quite to tell to be male or female with a nose ring, a boy with badly but hair, a fair boy with soft brown eyes like melted sugar and a bright Hawaiian shirt and a girl all in black who looked the kind to get pregnant at sixteen and push the child onto her mother who was talking incessantly to the brown-eyed-boy.

"Kelly Prescott?" I asked and the girl in black shaded her eyes to see my face clearly. "Yes?" she asked, voice snotty and I felt like grimacing. It would just _have _to be this girl. "I'd like to ask you a few questions… in private?" I asked and she shook her head. "Nuh ah. Think I've never heard about dodgy perverts like you? Got something to say, you can say it in front of everybody." I looked at Hooker, who looked at her like a tolerant elder watching an awkward child. I shrugged. "We heard that your room got vandalized a few weeks ago-" she looked at me hotly. "I didn't do it!" I looked at her hard. It occurred to me that this source might just be too insane to trust. "We're not here to accuse you. We just want to follow up on a lead." I said and her eyes lit up, glancing at the boy with an 'I told you so' expression. "Oh really? What do you want to know?" she asked. "Miss Gandillon has left town, and we would like to find her… could you help us?" I questioned.

She looked like a triumphant Cheshire cat. "Vivian? Where did you say she'd gone Aiden? That's right… Vermont" The boy shuddered as though he'd branded, and looking up at me I saw fear. "Vivian and her family were going to go to Vermont, but then they found a homestead in Virginia. That's where they came from and they liked it better than town," he informed me and I nodded. I smiled. "Thank you, I think we know enough. Have a good day." As we walked from the congested field I glanced at Hooker, whose broad shoulders were relaxed. "What do you think?" I asked and he smiled slightly. "I think that the boy has something to hide."


	13. Too Much To Ask

**Chapter 13: Too Much To Ask**

**Aiden Teague**

Irony is cruel. For the last fortnight the hours have passed torturously slowly, particularly those at night, and yet now, when I would truly appreciate more time I never have an extra second. And the instant those two men walked into my school yard, the shadows that haunted my nights followed me into the light. I felt as though the hour glass had just been turned on me, and the little time I clung to just disappeared. Pulling away from Kelly's bragging speech I grabbed Bingo and hauled her around the side of the block. "The shit…. has hit… the fan," I said slowly, pausing for effect. Bingo looked wide-eyed. She was used to being in control of situations, I know, and this she wasn't liking a bit. She took a deep breath before calmly saying, "How do you know that?" I looked at her testily. "I saw writing on the lapel of the older guy's jacket. He's from the Virginian PD. I don't know why the whole pack moved from West Virginia, but I'll bet it wasn't without real good reason."

Bingo nodded, and then the full repercussions hit her. "If they know they're-" "they could be trying to hunt them down." Then a wonderful thought occurred to me. It rose in my chest like a miniature sun sending searing heat to my frozen extremities. "Bingo, we've got to find the pack first and warn them. It's my only chance for forgiveness." Bingo cocked an eyebrow. "What is it with guys? You can't just _talk _to the girl. You can't just say _sorry_. You've got to save her from an untimely doom." Then she grinned. "There's hope for you yet, douchebag," she added, punching me lightly on the shoulder. I nodded. She smiled slyly. "Of course, to actually have any chance of getting a lead on those two terminators, you'd better make a move on. I bit my lip for a second before something weird happened. I realized a really, seriously didn't care what punishment dad laid down on me- finding the pack was more important. I nodded to her. "Can you cover for me the last two classes? Say I've got a cold or something-" "Oh no you don't. I didn't just convince you to flout school regulations without a being able to actually _see _this. Besides, there's nothing good on channel six tonight," she added and I rolled my eyes, too euphoric to really care.

I live a pretty tame life, really. Never been completely wasted, never got in trouble with the law, or tried illegal drugs and been a truant. So as we walked out the school gate as though we had all the right in the world to be doing so, my heart began to hammer in my chest. Somehow Bingo, zen cool, must have noticed because she muttered "and this being the guy with the grand plan to visit a pack of creatures who have no love for him and would just as soon rip him to shreds. Yup, you are one big set of contradictions." I pretended not to hear her, busy unlocking my VW Beetle, the sunny yellow seeming too bright for me today. Pulling away from the curb, heart still hammering in my chest bingo sighed comfortably and pushed her seat back, resting pale bare feet on the dashboard. "Sorry to interlude the master plan, but I am _not _trekking across this country for the next week in the same underwear. We're gonna need to get supplies. Oh, and what are you gonna tell your dad? You got lost on the Maryland turnpike, ended up in Vermont and want a weeks holiday while you're up there?" she pointed out these insignificant points but I really didn't care. I was acting on instinct for once, and damm it felt good.

Bingo's a pretty persuasive person though, so when she ran to her room to grab a suitcase I used her kitchen phone to ring my dad's work place. Dad picked up on the second ring, as was usual for monsieur Cyborg. "Dad! Hey. Umm, there's been an emergency trip come up with school for my science class- remember that storm last week? Yeah, that brought a whole lot of acid down from the atmosphere and now Mr O'Connell wants us to get samples of data from all around the Vermont national park… it'll take about a week and we're leaving now. I'll pay for myself. Okay?" I asked and after a long moment dad answered "a Science trip? When will you be back?" I looked at the calendar in front of me. "Won't be more than a week. I'm all up on all my other school work and I'll give you a ring before I come back. I'm going with Bingo and a couple others." I told him, carefully crossing my fingers. For once luck was really with me. Dad sounded distracted and quickly told me "sure… just keep in contact. Bye." And I found myself holding a dead phone. Slowly putting it back on my cradle. Behind me was a quiet snort. "You know, one day you're going to have to tell him where to get off," she said and I grinned. "Sure… one day in the distant, distant future when he can't cancel my license, credit card and get every copper south of New York on my tail. Ready?"

I waited in the car as she rang her mom and gave the cat a hug, gently drumming my fingers against the searingly hot metal on the steering wheel. I think the euphoria wore off a little because other things occurred to me. What if I was wrong, and being paranoid? What if they killed me before I had time to tell them about the men? What if the men get there before us? What if I cant find her… and didn't that man who killed that foxy colloured woman make it clear that he was not wanted? Bingo came running out and jumped into the passengers seat, complete with suitcase, sleeping back and favourite pillow. She was settled in for a long camp out, and didn't care who knew. When we reached my house I didn't have quite the ease. I'd been living on the living room couch since Vivian jumped through my window- the room seemed to ooze raw charged emotion and made the hair on the back of my neck stand straight. I navigated it quickly, grabbing what I needed and shoving it into a worn leather bag at the bottom of my wardrobe before walking from the room- an action that took all my self control to stop myself sprinting out the door as fast as my legs could carry me.

Bingo had a massive map of the east coast spread over her knees and dashboard and was pouring over it. She clucked her tongue absently. "Mate, you do know that Vermont is about 700kilometers away? And that it covers an area of 9609 square miles?" I tossed my bag in the back seat and pushed away from the curb. "And?" I asked, knowing it was the continuation she wanted. "Lets see…do you really think you can drive 1400kilometers _and _search 9609 square miles in one week?" she asked and I grinned at her. "No. That's why I brought you." She rolled her eyes. "Stop with the flirting, bucko. Look…. Damm. That blows." "What?" She folded the map back up. "I was going to say something intelligent about going to where there are lots of mountains and looking there, but pretty much the whole state _is _mountainous." I groaned, and turned out on the turnpike for Baltimore. Entering into the packed highway where survival was for the fittest and I rarely dared stray, a thought occurred to me. "Do you remember that article we had to read in forth form for English about wolves being protected in Yosemite national park? Do you know if wolves are protected in all national parks?" I asked and she frowned.

"I bloody hope so, or else we're down on a lead. And lets face it- we really, _really _need a lead." She buried her head in the map again. After several close scrapes with utility vehicles with cabs so high they probably couldn't see the little VW Beetle they were about to crush like a bug we rolled into Baltimore and the afternoon sun reached the height of its heat. My shirt was soaked through where it contacted the vinyl seat and my back was beginning to ache. I would have asked Bingo to drive, but she has never driven in her life and makes it a matter of ethics not to. When I pointed out that being a car is just as bad as driving it, she told me that if the driver is responsible for all the people in the car wearing a seatbelt, they're also responsible for all the CO2 emissions, defenseless animals you run over and the terrible aerial reception. The passenger is innocent and naive… even when they're not. Then- "The main mountain range through Vermont is Green Mountains National Park…that's the best I can do… and it about halves all the places they could have gone."

By the time we reached Philadelphia the day was fading into a brooding twilight, and we'd exhausted every CD we had in the car. The stars were veiled by the thick layer of smog over Philadelphia giving the sky an eerie red glow that reminded me of that mans, Gabriel's, eyes when he Vivian told him to let me go. Bingo curled up on the seat and promptly fell into a deep sleep, breathing even and strong, snoring slightly. Normally this would have been a pain, but any companionship in the darkness when every shadow passing over the road was a werewolf lurking, I appreciated it. It was solid darkness by the time we reached the giant Newark turnpike beside New York and passed into Connecticut. More than once I felt myself slump over the wheel in exhaustion, and each time I managed to wake up just in time to swerve a roaring truck or deep gully as we climbed up the Appalachian Mountains.

In these slow hours that passed only with the slow turning of the neon green clock on the dashboard I remembered everything so clearly. The strength that seemed to lie close to Vivian's skin, strength that seemed to somehow be transferred to me every time I kissed her. The way she always seemed to want to go deeper, to be more aggressive, to take parts of her that I didn't trust myself with. The way she walked, as though she had all the confidence in the world, yet was the only person who really accepted me for being the way I am. The way that beautiful face suddenly mutated into something so… still makes me shudder. What should I have done? It was pretty stupid to tell the police I suspected a werewolf had killed those people, but then again, I never imagined it'd make news.

Clear of all cities, suddenly the whole sky seemed to blaze with starlight and moonlight. I'd always thought that stars were white, but now I could see tinges of red, blue and green like little diodes on black paper. I thought of all those coats of white paint dad made me layer on my room, and still the black paint underneath showed through. I suppose there's really no such thing as a fresh start. Your past will always be the greatest influence on your future. And if that's true, what you do in this second could change your life forever. Me, I just want to live a life fill of the things I love, not constantly watching my shoulder. Is that too much to ask?


	14. Successor

**Chapter 14: Successor**

**Vivian Gandillon**

No sooner then I'd clambered off the Harley, slightly unbalanced from all the corners we'd just skidded around and all the near misses- fence posts and trees that seemed to fly past missing our faces by millimeters- then Persia appeared in the courtyard. I suppressed a groan and politely walked with her back to her flat. She was draped in long black bolts of material reminding me of the crone a story she once told. Her ancient face seemed lined with some indescribable emotion but for somebody her age she walked briskly. "I meant to give you some weeks to settle in first, but time is not on our side," she said in that ageless voice and I frowned. "English translation, please?" I asked and she looked at me for a second, eyes flaring with compassionate blue light. "I've watched you growing up, to be the woman you now are and am convinced that you will be the best person to succeed me." Talk about hitting you between the eyes. I felt as though the air had been knocked from my lungs with a sledge hammer. "What! Aunt Persia-" "I have chosen. All you must now decide is whether to take the power I offer to you, or to let it die from the world, because I will tell nobody else." Her voice was so determined I nodded solemnly.

"I accept then, Aunt." I told her softly and she smiled. "Good. Now to matters of interest. Ross has awoken again, and is looking for answers I refused to give to him." I groaned openly at that one. "Fine, I get the hint. Would you be able to be scarce for the next twenty minutes?" I asked and she nodded, pulling a little manila envelope from her pocket. "I'll be in the inn's kitchen, should you want me." Suddenly she put the envelope up to my nose with speed that shouldn't belong to somebody so old and I took a breath of the violent blue powder before I could pull my nose out, sneezing. "What is that!" I demanded but Persia just turned and walked towards the main inn and I decided not to chase her. She probably wouldn't tell me even if I pried her jaws apart. Persia's flat was open, and the room was filled a cherry warmth from the candles the lined the shelves, flames flickering daintily in the breeze that followed me inside. Ross was lying back on the table, holding a book above his head that cast a long shadow over his grizzled and heavily bandaged head. He looked up when I came in and smiled. "Gabrielle! I was hoping to see you today," he said, very friendly. I smiled back. "Turns out I'm still under legal obligation to attend schooling. What can I do you?"

He frowned. "You still at school? If you've gotta lie to me, at least make it believable." A familiar headache began at the base of my skull. "I'm sixteen. I really do go to school. How are you feeling?" I changed the subject before I could get hassled about my age again. He put the book down. "That's the thing. I broke my collarbone a couple 'o years ago and it took a good six weeks to really heal. But here I am with a broken skull, all these cuts and other breaks, and I feel stronger and better than I've ever felt before." I grimaced. I've never really tried to imagine what it would feel like to be human- so weak and vulnerable. I took a seat by his head so he could still see me and curled my knees up to my chest. "Do you remember anything about when you were attacked?" I asked and he looked at the white washed ceiling. "There was a man… a tall man behind me one minute. I thought it was just a trick of my imagination, but then it was a wolf, a giant, snarling wolf tearing and tearing at me-" he began to shudder slightly and I put a hand on his shoulder to pull him out of the recollection.

"Look, I've never been very good at explanations, so cut me some slack. You were attacked by a wolf… but a very special kind of wolf. You see, that man you saw… he _was _the one who attacked you. He turned into a wolf." I said slowly and Ross blinked at me for a second before he laughed as though it was the most hilarious thing he'd ever heard. I frowned in surprise. Revulsion, I'd expected. Disgust, hatred, rage, terror… I could have dealt with those. But _laughter_? That was the scariest of all. Finally he patted my knee. "Thank you for making my day. You say a _werewolf _attacked me? Ha." I shook my head in disbelief. "You don't believe in anything supernatural, do you?" I asked and he shook his head firmly. "Load of rubbish the lot of it. Gabrielle, I deal in the _real _world." He sounded so proud, which is why I couldn't quite hide my amusement to see that the book he'd been reading was the Holy Bible. Then again, I can't really be judgmental… people say that werewolves are fragments of the imagination, so who am I to dismiss the Holy Trinity?

"So why do you believe in God, but not UFO's and Vampyres?" I asked, genuinely curious. He looked a little baffled by this question. "Because you can feel Gods presence. Because if you believe in God, it gives you hope. It makes you feel better on your worst days. It gives _meaning_." He said after several minutes' contemplation. I nodded. "And if I told you that I got the same feelings from the moon on the earth, would that make me Satanic?" I asked and he frowned. "God made the earth, so you're worshiping Him in your own special way." I can't believe I'm actually hearing this from a no nonsense deer stalker. Miracles will never cease. I dipped my head gracefully and dragged a leg over the arm of the chair absently. "And if I told you that the moon… or I suppose considering God made the moon, God… gave my people a special gift eons ago, what would you think?" I asked and he frowned. "I suppose I'd be honored to have such a gift." And Gabriel says I'm not diplomatic enough.

I smiled at him. "Somehow, in a way none of us can work out, our gift got transferred to you when you were attacked." And this time, instead of the sarcastic look, Ross seemed genuinely curious in an indulgent way. "And what gift would that be?" he asked and I though hard. It would make the long web of words useless if I freaked him out now. "A way to become closer to everything- the earth, the sky and the animals… a way of changing so you become fast and free." He looked at me. "You're babbling, Gabrielle. Spit it out." I bit my lip and decided to take a different angle- the Vivian way of breaking news. "You've somehow turned into one of us. A metamorpth. A loup-garou. A werewolf." I told him firmly, and this time he didn't laugh. I reached out a hand and rested it on his shoulder. "That's why you're healing so fast. That's why everything seems sharper to you." He shook his head. "This is a poor joke," he said softly, as though praying that this were a nightmare he could wake from easily.

I shook my head grimly. For a moment he seemed to look off into space vaguely, and then he crossed himself just like you see priests do in movies. "Why has my God forsaken me?" he asked quietly, more to himself then me. I frowned. I never realized just how much of a devout Christian Ross actually was. "What makes you think that God's forsaken you?" I asked before I could stop myself. He was still looking off into space. At my question, he turned to look at me and his eyes seemed almost feverish. "Why else would he curse me?" he asked and I drew back my hand as though he had developed a second head. "As that what you think this is? A curse?" I demanded angrily. For some reason I felt tears prick in my eyes. Would no human ever accept me for being me?

I glared at him, and cut in before he could answer with another pathetic 'poor little me' reply "You Christians all have all those big words about acceptance, being gentle and kind to the condemned. But whenever you actually meet people who really fit the category you all rush to throw stones. Rudy thinks things will change, but they don't. You're all just full of crap as you were three century's ago. Your own rules dictate that there's only one place for you; Hell." And with that I walked out. Okay, so I overreacted, I told myself as I stalked across the courtyard to the inn. In record time all the anger I felt drained away to frustration and by the time I reached the main doors, smoldering shame. I put my hand to the knob, but didn't turn it. Suppressing a scream I turned and stalked back across the compound, pushing aside Persia's net curtain a little too hard, almost slicing through the strings with sharp claws. Ross looked up at me from his bible again. "Are you going to yell at me again?" he asked in a way so matter of fact it lift me a little speechless.

"Nope. I've got better things to scream about to people with denser skulls than yours," I told him, breezing in to take my seat back. He shrugged and turned back to the Good Book. After a minute silence I couldn't take it anymore. "What are you reading?" I asked and he put the book down on his chest. "Matthew, 5:38-42." I frowned, waiting for him to go on, but when he didn't elaborate coughed. He looked surprised. "You haven't read Matthew?" I gave him a look. "Matthew, 5:38-42 is about not fighting back. If a person slaps your right cheek, don't slap them back. Present your left cheek." I sniffed. "If anybody actually lived by that principal they'd be run ragged. Gees, you'd lose everything, including your sanity." I said and he smiled slightly. "Including your selfishness." I rolled my eyes. "If a person hurts you, I'm sure you should strike back even harder, to teach them never to hurt you or anybody else again." He closed the book with a snap and I wondered where he got it from- he wasn't carrying a bible, and none of the pack would own bibles. "You say that with conviction. So tell me. If I ever see the… creature that did this to me, should I try and kill him, or should I forgive him and try and help him?"

For me, the answer bubbled to my lips without a seconds thought. "You should hurt him as much as he's hurt you. It's not your right to kill him." He looked slightly sickened. "You can talk so matter of factly about ending a person's life?" he asked and I looked at the small box of his possessions, including a long gun that I'd heard Bucky refer to as a .88. "And you can feel so comfortable killing innocent, defenseless animals?" I shot back, conveniently ignoring the fact that I do that on a regular basis. That was different. "Nothing I say is going to convince you to stop trying to create a fight, so there is no point to my answering you." I admit, that miffed me a little. I'm the one who breaks _up _fights, not provokes them. Often. "So this is just you being silent." He nodded, looking wistfully at the bible before settling it onto the table beside his bed. "You are far too young to be so close minded, Gabriele," he looked at me wisely and I felt my lip curl. _Me _being close minded? I'm not the one saying I'm cursed.

Before I could point this out he called a truce, and asked if I could get him some 'real' food, not the basil broth Persia had been forcing on him. "You get this unique gift, and you're more interested in food. Men. So typical." I stalked out of Persia's house for the second time, but now at least my heart felt a little lighter. The sky was already darkening, and I marveled in the fact that only last moon there was an extra hour of daylight each evening. Pulling open the main doors of the inns hall quietly, a blanket of heat from the stoked fire rolled over me and I noticed Bucky and Gabriel painting white wash onto the far wall. Gabriel smiled as I drew closer and Bucky just nodded, the largest gesture I'd received since his loss of control at the Ordeal… I guess killing your best mate doesn't do anyone a whole lot of good. I picked up a spare brush and dipped it into the thick creamy liquid before slapping it on the wall in fat strokes.

Why on earth would you let a person walk all over you the way this guy Matthew says you should? I mean, I can understand that if everyone constantly hit back and forth at each other humanity would have died out eons ago, but surely you should seek revenge if a person hurts you, your family and friends? "How did it go?" Gabriel asked and it took me a moment to realize he was talking to me, I was so lost in my own thoughts. I blushed. "I lost my temper," I said simply, not in any mood to embellish the truth. Gabriel smirked slightly. "Something I'm sure is a new and different experience for you. How much did you scare the guy?" he asked and I grimaced. "Well, I managed to insult his religion, make him believe that this is a God-sent curse- and how could I forget- that he deserved to go to hell." Gabriel actually laughed and ruffled my loose hair with a paint free hand. "Babe, could you have done any better if you tried?" he asked rhetorically and I scowled. "Oh, and you think that if you talked to him it'd all be motorcycles and beer? I wish you luck." I slapped the paint of thickly, disgusted to feel tears pricking my eyes. For some reason I thought Ross was different. I thought he'd accept us. Gabriel put the brush down. "Look Viv, if he's as religious as I think he is, nothing you could have said would have made it any easier for him to accept it." His words seemed to soak into my heart and I felt a little better.

"But I'll say this much- he is a potential disaster for this pack, and I won't give him the opportunity to cause pandemonium. We have enough trouble with the five as it is. We can't move again… there are so few places left to run." His words were firm, and though it grated me, I knew he was right. "For generations and generations we've run every time there's trouble," I felt my chin jut out slightly in determination. "But I swear on the moon that I will never run from our home ever again. If it is time for homo sapiens to finally destroy homo lupus, I won't go out trapped in a corner with my tail between my legs." Gabriel's eyes widened. "If trouble comes, that's a death sentence Viv. Don't put that on that pack." I shook my head. "I'm not speaking for the pack, I'm speaking for myself. Besides, you can lead them if it comes to that." I noticed that Bucky had put down the brush and was discreetly heading for the door. Had he learnt tact when we all turned our backs? "You know I'd never leave you Viv. Remember my promise? I promised to keep you safe, no matter what." He sighed and sat down, back against the wall.

I slapped more paint on the wall, careful not to splatter him. "Just a note before you go all male chauvinist on me, men are overrated. It's a scientific fact that one human male is all that's needed to populate the planet, but there is obviously no way civilization could continue with just one female." He looked up at me and smiled. "Just as well I'm not human then, isn't it." He reached for me, but I darted out of his grasp. I have homework to do. "Funny. And I think I have a solution for the five." A flicker of surprise spread over his face. "Put electric collars around their necks and set them to trigger whenever they step one mile from this inn?" he asked and I laughed before I could help myself. "Hey, it would work, but then the guests would probably start calling the humane society. They're all interested in engineering, Gabriel. And all the real idiots- Axel… Rafe…Finn… are gone. They might actually stand a chance. And it'd get them out of school." I decided it was better for all of us not to inform him of the Five's school howling. He looked thoughtful. "It wouldn't be difficult to get them apprenticeships in a town this size, and if there is we they could always drive to Morgan." He smiled. "I'll see what I can do. I was depending on some help from the local carpenters this week but the guy cancelled ten minutes before he was supposed to arrive this afternoon. Right now it's up to Bucky and I to completely renovate this place in the space of a week."

I dropped the brush and sat beside him. "Hectic?" I suggested and he grinned. "Wonderful, actually. It's nice to be occupied with something completely physical for a week. I'll leave all the thinking to you." I flexed my fingers. "So you're going to stay here and run the inn? Not tempted to get a job as a welder again?" He shook his head. "That was just a fill in to get the pack settled. I've spent enough of my life roughing it out. Time for luxury." That made me smirk. "I have an Economics teacher who would go into cardiac arrest if anybody ever told him _this _is luxury." And I had the memory to prove it. "Viv, I grew up in a three room apartment with a family of seven, not including my uncle who frequently made it his crash pad whenever he was evicted. As soon as I got my first well paid job I moved out… and from dungy hotel rooms for years. I've seen everything- cockroaches, cardboard walls, spider infestations, dust bunnies and duvets that are almost moving with lice. Trust me- this is _luxury_." I thought about this- I know that some of the other packs have poverty, but I've never really met any.

Another small puzzle piece fell into place in my mind, giving me a tantalizing hint at the full picture of his life I doubt I'll ever truly know. "And besides, luxury isn't really what you've got. Sounds like a cliché, I know, but who you're with really is everything." He said softly, large hand resting on my knee. I wrapped my hands around his calloused ones and had to agree with him. He leaned over and kissed my forehead surprisingly softly. It felt almost empty, and reminded me of Aiden. Capturing his lips with my own I kissed him hard, fulfilling the raw need for more in me. He cradled my face, deepening the kiss when suddenly the door was thrown open and a female giggling like a dizzy teenager glided in. Esme. I broke away from Gabriel instantly and pulled myself to my feet. "Mom!" I called, a little dispassionately; the tang of betrayal stuck in my throat like heart burn. She saw me and smiled. "Vivian! How was your first day at school?" she asked and I gave some non-comitial answer.

"Honey, can you give me a hand empting the car?" she asked after what felt like an eternity of empty chatter about the shopping centre of town she'd spent most of the day investigating. Smothering a groan I threw a desperate look over my shoulder to Gabriel as I followed her out to the car. "There's Thomas?" I asked. Turns out Thomas is at a job interview. As usual, it didn't take long for mom to turn to what she really wanted to talk about. "I can't believe I'm going to have a wedding!" I would have done a lot to just vanish into the fabric of the seats just then. "Really? It's not like it's your first one," I muttered, not able to keep some animosity from my voice. But thankfully she didn't even notice. "I know, but when I married your father we didn't have a ceremony or anything like this- we just signed forms for the registry office. Do you think I should have a White dress?" No, I thought firmly. White symbolizes purity- something that is not exactly one of Esmé's attributes. "If you want one, go for it," I said, voice detached. Hey, I was making the effort not to stoop to giving single syllable answers. Esme and Thomas's flat was at the opposite side of the compound from mine, though architecturally an exact replica. But unlike our apartment, this one had navy textured wall paper, the bed was _actually _made and one of moms bras was hanging from the door knob.

"So what do you think of this wedding?" she asked as we dropped the heavy bags of food on the kitchen bench and unpacked them. Why couldn't she stop asking me awkward questions that forced me to lie? "It doesn't matter what I think, mom. What matters is that you're happy." Didn't you love dad! Don't you love me! The questions ached to break out of my mouth. "Really honey? That's so nice of you! You know, it's amazing just how much you've grown up in the last month." I laughed humorlessly. Sure there were changes, but the main one was that I'd stopped telling Esme the truth. And all the things I don't tell her seem to be making this giant void between us that sometimes at night I yearn to step back across and hug her like I used to, but never do in the light of day. Making up some random excuse that she seemed to buy, I ran back through the gathering darkness to our flat and flick on every single light in the place and pulling a couple of pairs of shoes on the steps inside. It's going to rain tonight- I can smell it.

Searching the cupboards I'm disgusted to find that because of our procrastination, we were going to survive another night on tinned spaghetti and fruit salad. I never thought I'd actually say this, but I'd even appreciate some fresh broccoli right now. The kitchen was small- about one and a half meters squared in the corner of the dining room/lounge. Unusual that a flat for two people has a table with four chairs and two moth bitten couches (that Gabriel has become quite attached to) but then again, it did belong to two people incapable of keeping the cupboard stocked and the bed made. I was used to Rudy cooking, and I'm almost positive that Gabriel survived on a stable meal of fast food in Maryland. Screwing the top off the tin I blew dust off the pot left on the drying rack from last nights identical meal, tipped the stiff contents into it, my heart tremoring for a moment when I thought that the sauce was exactly the same colour as blood. Moon, I'm becoming paranoid. Turning on the element I set it to heat.

Pulling all my homework onto the table I looked at it for a moment before I sat on the couch and flicked on the television. It was the news headlines- more murder, more rape and more conspiracy theories. I knew there was a good reason I never watched it. My eye lids seemed heavy and I couldn't seem to focus my eyes. I put my head on the arm of the chair and yawned. It wouldn't hurt if I closed my eyes for a minute, would it? _Everything went dark and suddenly I opened my eyes, and I was sitting prostate in a car, chewing my lower lip absently. It was a dream- it had to be. But still, everything seemed so real… and then there was the fact that this isn't me. I'm in the body of a girl, dressed in a glistening blue gown- a prom dress. In a limousine. She/I glanced at the dark eyed boy beside me, eyes lingering over his pure skin and brown eyes with ridiculously long eye lashes. He grinned back as the car pulled to a stop outside a school hall that I couldn't place. "Ready for the prom?" he asked and She/I smiled as his fingers laced through mine. "Of course. Jason-"_

"_Stop worrying Sach. Now that you paid my debt off they won't come after us." She/I grimaced. "Jason, It can't be that easy." She pulled Her/me closer and kissed her hard, completely dominating her. There is something truly weird going on when you are kissed through another girl in a dream that I could never have imagined. He let Her/Me go and I was a little disappointed- were all humans such pathetic kissers? Sliding open the doors we clambered out and the boy saluted the driver, passing him a generous tip. The boy kissed Her/Me again softly and pinned a corsage to the front of my strapped dress, which caressed my legs as We walked to the opening. One of the guys at the entrance dressed in a tux did a complicated hands shake with Our date and we walked into the hall, enveloped by the pounding dance music that made the walls vibrate and the girl move instinctively with the music. For the first time in my life I was dancing hip hop in a calf length skirt with a guy who seemed more preoccupied with flirting with the DJ than dancing. But this girl just let herself go, and I could feel the love she felt in letting her hair down and allowing her body move without restraint. _

_We got exhausted, and the girl silently muttered thanks when a slow dance came and the boy, Jason wrapped his hands around her. To me he seemed to hold her like a prize, tucking her into his arms as easily and impersonally as though she were a bar of soap. It felt so empty to me, but the girl loved this and to her it seemed fulfilling. Is this really the way humans dance at proms? I'd exchange this any day for Gabriel in the pub last Thursday…Suddenly the boy vanished and We moved to join some of her friends gathering on the side of the dance floor. A tall, practically anorexic girl with platinum blond hair smiled at Us indulgently. _

"_You and Jason are so the perfect couple," she said, gripping Our shoulders. We smiled blissfully. "Really? You think so?" The girl on my right, a dark skinned girl who seemed faintly sad asked. "But what about Princeton? You didn't fight our way to the top of every class just to stay in Frankton for the rest of your life!" I marveled- I'd never had difficulty in school, but I'd never really tried to excel. This girl though- sounds like school and this boy are her life. "Ameda! I am trying to forget about it for just one night!" We joked, giving the girl a quick loose hug I've seen popular girls do at school. The girl still watched her grudgingly and I felt Her happiness when Jason came back. But something was different now. The smell of alcohol was acrid on his breath and he was slightly uncoordinated as he dragged us to a hidden niche in the wall. "Sach, it isn't enough. I'm sorry, but it wasn't enough." We looked at him fearfully. "But I gave them $5000 to cover all your costs. That's twice as much as you owed them."_

_The boy grabbed her shoulders hard enough to bruise. "Stupid bitch! Don't you love me?" he demanded, shaking us like a terrier shakes a rat. Fear surged inside the girl, and pain. "I love you Jason! How can you say something like that?" she asked, and he held her even more tightly. "They want another $2000. They say somebody lied about the right figure. If you don't give me another $2000, the mob will kill me. Is that what you want?" he insisted and terror rose in the girl. Terror of the mob, terror of the boy she loved so, terror of what her father would think. "But I don't have that much money!" She cried. "I've already given them all my university savings to free you." He kissed her sloppily, alcohol on his breath making her almost retch. "If you don't pay this, I won't love you. I'll find someone else." He threatened and I felt the pain in the girls heart as real as though it were my own. It was like Aiden all over again- only this girls pain didn't explode into white hot rage, it seemed to freeze her heart. _

"_But $5000 is more than enough to cover it…" a realization struck her. "You bought more off it, didn't you Jas? Why can't you stop!" she cried, hitting him in the chest weakly. This seemed to gather his strength. "I need the drugs Sach!" he yelled back, and he raised his fist on Us, landing a blow heavily on Our chest. The air knocked out of us, we gasped desperately for breath. "Jason stop!" she cried, tears blurring her eyes as he reached for her, sliding a hand up her leg. "Isn't this what you wanted bitch?" he demanded, looking almost demonic to her eyes as denial to the situation rose in her. This boy she loved couldn't be doing this to Her/Me. He crushed her against the wall, pinning her arms to the wall. "Jason, cu'mon… let me go Jason, let me go!" she was crying and screaming, but nobody seemed to notice and come to her aid. _

_In a moment she managed to get her arms loose and in a brilliant hit that I couldn't have performed better myself she brought her elbows down hard on his shoulders, weakening him just enough for her to get a decent hit at his groin with her knee. The boy staggered off her with an explicit curse and We ran blindly through the crowds, looking for a way to get out as fear gripped her heart. There was no doubt in her mind that he would have raped her if she hadn't escaped, and there was no doubt that in her refusal to help him, the gang would kill him. _

_Hot tears spilt down her face as she made it to the foyer and turned for a second to see a full length mirror full of herself. It was the first time I'd seen this girl, and the only way I can really describe her is a classic beauty. Her hair was a coiled knot of black, her skin so fair it was almost gothic. She turned and ran out into the streetlight, running for the nearest wasp coloured Taxi when there was a yell behind her through the sheets of falling rain. It was the Indian girl, Ameda. "Sacha, where are you going!" she demanded, grabbing Our hands. Tears now streaked Our face. "Away. Far away. I'm going to make a fresh start." Ameda shook her head violently. "Don't leave me here Sacha! I need you! You're my mate, remember?" We bent down to kiss the intense girl softly on the cheek. "I'm sorry Ameda, but I can't live for anybody if I can't live for myself." We pulled Ourself into the taxi and looked at the driver, whom the name tag called Chip. _

"_How far away can you drive me?" I asked and he looked at Us as though We'd run mad. "I can take you to Columbus, but that's the best I can do, Okay? I've got a family to get back to." I nodded and we pulled away from the curb. I watched Ameda until the street turned and the feeling of complete loneliness swamped me. A single tear escaped Our eye and I as I looked out the window I saw my reflection. But there was something different now- she looked at the reflection knowingly. "Tell him this wasn't his fault. Tell him I loved him. Tell him his daughter is waiting for him."_

"_VIVIAN_!!!" somebody was shaking me awake from a deep sleep and as my eyes cleared I saw Gabriel. "Great Moons! I thought you were in a coma!" he buried me into a tight hug as my eyes registered the solid darkness outside and the bad smell of burning hit my sensitive nose. "What's that smell?" I asked and she pulled away slightly. "You fell asleep with the spaghetti on the stove. It boiled over onto the element and almost started a fire!" it didn't sound as though he really gave a damm about it though- he was hugging me furiously again. "What's wrong?" I asked and he hugged me closer.

"You started screaming in your sleep, telling some boy to get off you. I couldn't wake you! I shook you, I yelled at you, I flicked cold water on your face…" That explains the weird feeling on my face at least. Then I remembered the dream. "Sacha," I thought out loud and Gabriel froze. "What did you just say?" I looked up at him. "I just dreamt about Sacha. But it wasn't a dream… it couldn't have been. It was too vivid…" "Baby, wake up. Tell me what happened," he desperately. "He tried to rape her. That's why she ran away. She couldn't bear to tell her father." Gabriel turned white under his tan. "How is this possible?"

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_Sorry for taking so long to update- I just got out of the bush after a fortnight tramping. This chapter's a little slow, I know, but I need the background established… anyway, any comment would be great, good or bad. Preferably good. _


	15. Eighth Amendment

**Chapter 15: Eighth Amendment**

**Vivian Gandillon**

"If I'd known it was some evil magical herb you'd be pushing into my nose, I would never have agreed," I fumed at Persia. "It wasn't an 'evil magical herb' at all! It was crushed lapis lazuli." Surprisingly, that didn't really improve my feelings. "Great. So now I have rock particles in my lungs too." Persia looked faintly amused. "So you dreamed, didn't you?" I eyed her curiously. "You _knew _what you were giving me would make me dream? Why on earth did you give it to me?" If there's one thing Persia can do, it's look smug whilst looking mysterious. "I was compelled." Okay, now she'd been pent up in her apartment for too long. "Compelled?" but that was the last Persia would say on the matter, and I didn't have time to interrogate her. I had to go to school.

"My life could be so simple, you know that?" I told Gabriel after we almost (in my opinion anyway) wrapped the Harley around a warratah. "Yeah, and boring too," he grumbled back. Gabriel is _not _a morning person. But I'll say this much, I felt oddly relieved to be able to curl up beside the art rooms heat duct opposite the odd girl carrying on a regime of black. I suppose when you're constantly as close to your family as I am mine, a little breathing space is good. I looked at the girl again. There was something unusual about her face, as though it were slightly distorted. It took me a moment to realize she was wearing almost a whole packet full of concealer on her right cheek. Why on earth would anybody do that?

I decided not to ask her and she just ignored me as I took my seat. Sometimes when I was carefully putting shading onto a tail or lining in other figures I felt as though she was watching me, but whenever I looked up her face was firmly on George Orwell's 1985. This pretty much continued throughout the day, only today I noticed something else about her- it was as though she was invisible to people. Only their occasional moving to let her through the corridors suggested that she wasn't a ghost. Nobody talked to her, nobody sat with her and the teachers didn't even acknowledge her. Was there a reason for it, or had she just mastered the art of going completely unnoticed? So when I walked into economics a full ten minutes late (I didn't mean to… honestly) I knew I had it coming for me. "Miss Gandillon! So nice of you to join us. Considering you deem it unnecessary to attend my class, you must understand accounting competently. So tell me what owners equity is." I knew not doing homework last night was going to come back and bite me.

"The amount of money a business or person has left after all the liabilities have been subtracted from the assets?" I bluffed, vaguely remembering Gabriel explain something like that to me. Mr Radford went completely silent and indicated for me to take a seat. I smiled a little smugly. It's not everyday I bluff and come up all aces. Taking a seat beside the girl in black, she looked momentarily astounded, as though I was intruding upon some sacred space I had no right to corrupt. "Why are you sitting here?" she hissed at me under Mr Radford's dull monotone. "Because it has a nice view of the mountains," I answered instantly. And it was true- the sun was just hitting the dense greenery of the foot hills and making a cloud of vapour roll over them like cotton wool. "Well, there's a better view from over there," she retorted, pointing at the nearest empty seat to the window. "If you think so, why don't you sit there?" I asked and she was quiet again. I was a little disappointed- for the first time she was actually talking. Who cares if she was arguing with me?

Mr Radford's voice returned to prominence in my brain. "You all passed the practise exam, you'll be pleased to know. Not that it was particularly difficult. I've marked you all to the exams criteria. Revise it, learn it and good luck in the exam." If anybody else had said that, it could have been a compliment, but from him those words seemed scornful. He flicked out the papers in his arms to everyone- there was applaud, booing, surprise and smug silence. But my greatest surprise came when he dropped Miss Optimists paper on her desk. An A+. I looked at her face waiting for reaction- something, anything- just she half shrugged and filed it away in a folder. Was this normal for her? Wasn't she vain of her brains, like every other A+ student I've meet?

The concealer was getting a little worn and this close up I began to understand why she was wearing it- a vicious bruise was completely covering her right cheek. Had nobody else noticed? I leant over slightly. "You may want to re-apply," I whispered to her, touching my own cheek, and she went white, and walked out of the classroom in all the disorder of the test papers. Mr Radford didn't even look up. I bet if I did that, he'd try to spring me with detention. Because I really didn't want any more time in school than I already had, I decided not to test the theory. Better to concentrate on more important things… like which of our pack is the ticking time bomb.

My money would have been on Bucky, but to me something about the guy had changed. Killing Jean had left a permanent mark under his skin, and all his macho chauvinist traits had disappeared. At least Ross was able to clarify that it was a male who attacked him… that lowers the suspects by half, I thought gloomily as I glanced at the clock. Two hours until schools over. I need to get out of here! Being in a class like this reminded me of things I'd thought I've forgotten. Bingo with her atrocious accent in French, Jem's wild imagination in art. If there was one thing that I miss from Maryland, it's Bingo. She was a real friend… well until Aiden started speaking poison against me. I looked around the class, aware that many of the boys had been watching, and not really caring. There was a time when I craved that attention, now I know better.

The girl walked back into the class, head high, brandishing a fresh coat of conceiler. She sat down beside me and looked at me oddly. "Why'd you tell me that?" she asked and I shrugged. If it were me, I'd be waiting for empty words that try to reassure with disgust. There's nothing I can say to this girl, who looks to have received the brunt of a fist, and from her proud carriage takes it as a norm. I can't even begin to relate to her. "You're not going to offer some declaration of how sorry you are?" she asked sarcastically and I shrugged again. "Is that what you want to hear?" I asked and for the first time she smiled. It wasn't one of those 'light up a room' smiles- but it was a start. She held out a hand. "I'm Ocean. Why on earth are you in Vermont?" she asked and I laughed. "I'm Vivian. Why on earth would your parents call you Ocean?" I asked and she looked disgusted. "Never have a marine biologist for a mother. My little brother's named Paua so I consider myself lucky." I frowned. "Paua? What _is _that?" Fine, so I'm not exactly up with sea terminology. She looked faintly surprised, and it was as though her frozen face had come alive with motion and life.

"We lived in New Zealand when he was born. The native people are called the Maori people, and Paua's a type of sea slug with a shell that looks really beautiful when it's polished up." I wrinkled my nose slightly. "Let me get this right… you're brothers named after a sea slug?" she laughed lightly. "Something like that. So why are you in Vermont?" Sweet moon, I hate having to lie. "My family's moved over here to live in the inn up the foothills… we love the forest." She nodded. "I went up there once. It's so quiet. Spooky." I grinned.

"You _like _cities?" She grimaced "God no! I love the sea. The sea's always noisy." I've never been to the sea. It always looks no enormous and empty in pictures, and I really don't like that emptiness. "Miss _Gandillon _are you listening!" I swear, I almost levitated. I rolled my eyes at Mr Radford before he turned away. School went quickly after that. I had lunch with Ocean in the art block, sat through another fascinating lesson of history and discussed, to my surprise, music. I've always liked music, and danced to it, but the way she talked about the piano, something I could _never _play, it was blatantly obvious that she could see something in it that I'd been missing. So when we walked out to the school gate talking, almost unable to stop, Gabriel looked faintly amused.

Five minutes of silence down the road I told him "Look, if I don't make friends here, it'll look unusual, alright?" He did something akin to a snort. "I see. And you think the excuse of you actually having somebody to talk to during those six hours never crossed my mind?" I gritted my teeth. I wish I could hate every single member of Vermont high passionately, but it felt slightly as though the past was dead to me. And besides, it wasn't as though every member of my Maryland high school turned up to burn me. It just takes one person to do that. Gabriel pretty much summed it up as we swept through the outer suburbs. "Baby, if every time you got burnt doing something you love you gave up on it, you wouldn't have a whole lot to do with your time. I'm not saying forget about Maryland… just don't make the same mistakes twice." When I muttered that he should have signed up to be a psychiatrist he really laughed, telling me that he had his hands full enough with one patient. Having well and truly lost the discussion, I returned to my thoughts.

"Eighth Amendment bone to pick. Sanctity of life," I thought aloud, thinking of the history lesson just passed, and applying it to my life. Hey, it worked last time I tried it. "What constitutes death? One mans terrorist is another mans freedom fighter. So to destroy a person who threatens us, we risk destroying the liberation of others." Gabriel stirred. "If I tell you you're disturbing me, will you stop?" he asked sarcastically. "Fine, I bite. When I went to school a fancy minister told me the same story that Ross told to you- if somebody slaps you, give them the other cheek. You reminded me of it. So one day, being my innocent and naïve-" I snorted ungracefully "-seven your old self I decided to apply it. I went home, and dad was drunk. Gin on an empty stomach... a sure combination for wonders." He laughed dryly, without the slightest trace of humour.

"My mother was out, and for the first time the bastard got the guts to go after my sister. So I stopped him. He hit me, hard. Almost broke my jaw. But I didn't slug him back one, teach him the lesson not to hit on anybody, least of all his family. No, I remembered the priests lesson. I presented my other cheek." He stopped for a few minutes. "So of course, from that day on, _I _was the one every single strap of anger was taken out on. And I held on, not fighting back, because if I did, If I packed up and left as I was so able to, he would have come after her. She wasn't like you, Vivie. She couldn't fight back. The bastard would have killed her." There is only one thing worse than ignorance- knowing something and being unable to do a god-dammed thing about it. I just hugged him close, feeling him shiver as though ice had passed down his spine. "But here's the thing- if I had hit him back the first time, I'm sure it would never have gotten so bad. He would have backed off. But because I didn't the problem escalated. Lesson learnt the hard way; when somebody strikes you, strike back harder so they'll never so it to you or anybody else again."

I had a happy childhood. I can't even begin to contemplate the terror he described. "Look, my point is that a seed of good in a person cannot abstain them. Seriously, I love my dad, but that doesn't stop me know that he belongs in one deep inferno. Just because a suicide bomber is making a message about his peoples pain does not give him the validation to kill many innocents. Life only as sacred as you make it." I grimaced. "Your dad… beat you, and you still love him?" I asked, appalled. He sighed and shut down the motor, pulling onto the side of the grass and lifting me over a fence so we sprawled in the middle of a field of barley, golden in the early Fall. "Yeah, he's my dad. No matter how much I hate it I see him in me, sometimes shining out so clearly it's all I see. He's everything I reject, yet when I take off the skin it's what I'll always be." I've never heard Gabriel talk this way. I sat up on an elbow. "You're nothing like your old man. You never will be." He looked at me oddly, his expression unreadable. I felt slightly sick. And I'd complained to him about mom getting married to Thomas. How pathetic my problems suddenly seem.

"How can you know that?" he asked and I smiled slightly, brushing my lips over his forehead. "Because when you let me in I didn't see a monster. I saw a man tormented by his own mind. You shouldn't forget the past, but you can't be ruled by it." He sighed and I felt that a piece of him that he hid so well from the world behind layers of deception was finally floating away. Maybe all it takes is a person to listen to free your soul. Perhaps a free man can be imprisoned. I slapped my forehead with the heel of my palm. "I _never _used to think like this! Why do I keep thinking like this?" I muttered aloud. Time was my thoughts roamed between pack and school. Black and white. Now my mind felt like a kaleidoscope of greys, the way everything looks from my wolf eyes. Was being around Gabriel making me think like this? Was it Aunt Persia's powder? Or was it just me? He crushed me into a hug that simultaneously removed every molecule of air from my lungs, but I honestly didn't really care. When he kissed me, he didn't feel like the abused son of an alcoholic father. He seemed just as he always had to me- the ragged wildness of the forest. He seemed like the man who would be by my side until my last breath. I never for one second suspected this breath could be my last.


	16. Complications

**Chapter 16: Complications**

**Vivian Gandillon**

I could sense wrong in the air. It's the only way I can describe it. One minute all is peaceful around me in the gathering twilight. Next thing every singe nerve in my body is standing to attention as though somebody screamed _Fire! _in my ear. I'm a niche I'd discovered on the roof of our apartment on my second day here with my sketchbook in the crook of my lap and the smell of, you guessed it, tinned spaghetti simmering in on the element as Gabriel yelled up something about coming down before I broke my neck (I found out fairly quickly that Gabriel has a big thing about heights when I made a controlled drop out of a tree by the river bed in Maryland). I shuddered as Gabriel banged the pot onto the metal bench and jumped down. Gabriel was disturbing adept in the kitchen, and watching his calculated measurements of herbs he'd found on last nights run that made even tinned spaghetti taste like something from an expensive restaurant I was usually transfixed, but right now it just made me more sure something was seriously wrong in a way I've never felt before.

"Gabriel?" I turned down the radio blaring out the latest pop epic and he smiled easily. "Dinner is served Madame." I shivered as goose bumps ran up my arm. "Something smells wrong," I said firmly, turning off the red hot element. He frowned. "Yeah… I couldn't get all the spaghetti out of the element after yesterday's burn over. It'll take a few days to turn to charcoal." I shook my head. "I think… I think something's wrong. It's in the air. Can't you smell it?" I asked and he stuck his head out the front door, taking a few deep breaths before "Nope. Probably just your imagination." His face darkened. "Or that powder Persia made you snuff." I looked at him and he groaned, looking at the hot dinner for half a second before he pulled on the heavy trench coat that had become part of the dress code in these cold mountains after months in sunny Maryland. He hammered on Bucky's door in the apartment next to me and I wasn't really surprised to see Bucky hold a Jack Daniels in the crook of his arm, looking as though he was trying to fill up something empty but just creating more space. The bloke was free falling without a parachute and I wasn't looking forward to rock bottom.

"Got a minute?" Gabriel asked after the pleasantries were exchanged and he shrugged, setting the bottle on the table by the door, stepping outside in jeans and a tank top as though oblivious to the cold. "Viv thinks somebody's gotten hurt… can you check the front and we'll cover the back?" Bucky looked enthused to have something to do and set to it with intensive energy- running through the thick shadows that now covered the sky. I rallied my energy levels. "You've gotta do something for that poor guy," I said and Gabriel grimaced. "Who do you think supplied the Jack Daniels?" Walking through across the compound, exchanging our human eyes for our wolven ones, the forest seemed a myriad of life. The pack of fallow deer living on the outskirts of the inn had disappeared the instant the pack arrived, but the remains of one carcass drew a daring raccoon out of hiding and for a moment I felt like pulling off this coat and chasing it but the desire was pushed away as the feeling of wrong exploded in my mind. I gasped, turning and sprinting back in Bucky's direction, not wanting to exchange my cumbersome body for a swifter one with tradesmen from the town staying in the inns rooms.

I ran straight past our apartment, playing an internal game of hotter, colder. I swerved slightly to the left and the trees and the trail got cold- I stayed on the main road and the feeling intensified. Hotter. I saw his silhouette first, distorted like an ogre, burdened by the extra weight in his arms. Gabriel caught me by the arm, eyes wide. "Sweet Moon…" Bucky was carrying the broken and bloodied for of a young woman that seemed like a broken manikin. But I was the only one who knew this manikin by name. Stroking dust off her indigo cheek gently I crooned her name softly. "Ocean, what _happened _to you?"

"You have a gift, you know that!" Gabriel cried in frustration, pacing madly back and forth in our small apartment now packed with four people. I sat on the arm of the sofa. "Can you stop before you wear a hole in the carpet?" I asked and I meant it. He was getting pretty fanatical with the pacing. "A gift for finding humans that are potential disasters!" he raised his voice slightly, exasperated and I rolled my eyes, standing to flick the jug on. "Coffee?" I asked Bucky, who seemed stone sober as he sat on our couch, girl coiled in his arms. He nodded and Gabriel finally stopped pacing to look at me. I hit a mug down on the bench hard. "Gabriel, the girl needs medical attention!" I put my hands on my hips. "And you'll have to get through me before you even consider turning her back to the wolves that did this to her!" I realized the bitter irony of those words too late. Gabriel stepped forward grabbing me by my shoulders. "Don't ever put those words in my mouth. I know how she feels a little bit better then you right now. All I'm saying is why here? Why the hell did she have to drag herself to _our _doorstep!" I sighed. "She's like a ghost at school… I'm think I'm the only one who's talked to her in months." He sighed, leaning forward to rest his forehead on mine, breath coming in slow, even sighs that was uniquely his.

"You're building up quite a menagerie," he said softly and my lips twitched into a smile. "Call it a talent." He kissed me quickly on the lips, comparatively chastely by standards. "This probably isn't the time, but God I love you when you make a stand." I laughed. "Yeah. Now isn't the time." He rested his head on my shoulder for as a second, as though resting before he took a deep plunge. "Do you want Persia involved?" he asked and I shook my head. "The fewer people involved in this, the better. It's bad enough the pack knows of Ross. I second 'meat-person' will be too much." Gabriel nodded. "Fair enough. I'll grab the first aid kit from the inn kitchens. He vanished out the door and the room suddenly seemed a whole lot larger. For a second something caught my eye… it was an expression on Bucky's face I've never seen before. Gabriel told me never to mistake affection for the desire to dominate, never to feel over protective because of their vulnerabilities. I leant over Ocean and pushed a strand of hair from her face again, tracing the line of her cheek. "Ocean, can you hear me?"

I asked and suddenly her eyes opened slightly. "Vivian, is that you?" she asked, voice cracked like old blood. Ocean was beautiful and strong… to see her degraded to this level made a sun of rage rise over my heart. "Yes honey, I'm here. I promise I'm not going to let anybody hurt you. I promise." Another tear lid down her dirty cheeks, blotted with vertical tear lines. "I made it to safe sanctuary," she said in wonder, before her eyes rolled up and she buried herself in Bucky's side. Bucky watched this in wonder. "The bad news is she's delirious. Probably got fever from walking so far. The good news it that I don't think she's been stabbed… or anything like that." Okay, so I'm not accustomed to this sort of thing and should probably run and get Persia. The voice of reason that insisted this was immediately shoved away by the vengeful friend who thinks that if I can stem her cuts from bleeding I can stop her bleeding on the inside. I ran into our bedroom, sheets in a dangled mess and ripped all the covers off. "Bucky, can you bring her in here?" I called and he appeared at the door frame.

I think what surprised me the most was how gentle he was. I've always thought of Bucky having the strength and mentality of an iron rod, but I admit, I may have misjudged. He negotiated around the door way so not to hit her head or feet and gently lowered her onto the bed. The trouble came when he tried to let her go. She moaned and tossed, fingers knotting into his t-shirt and simply refusing to let go. He pulled the cloth from her fingers and she curled up into the fetal position, squeaking as her whole body convulsed… as though she'd been hit hard. A chocked sob escaped her throat and she buried her head in her hands. What nightmare was she living through? I shook her gently by the shoulders and she cried out as though I'd branded her. I looked desperately at Bucky. I watched as he lay down on Gabriel's side and rolled towards her, reached out a massive hand and gently the same tentative way you touch an element to see how hot it is. I waited for the scream that was sure to come, but she barely whimpered. He reached out, pulling her over to him, her hair leaving a dark river over the white under sheet. Arms wrapped around her, she seemed as small as a rag doll in his grip.

I snapped out of a daze as she began to shiver slightly and threw a duvet over the both of them, thanking Bucky who seemed inclined to silence. But most miraculously of all was that she actually completely relaxed. Then it occurred to me. Bucky was the one who found her. Probably one big symbol of safety in her mind made tangible. I did a mental groan. This complicates things, as if they weren't complicated enough. There was a bang of the front door being closed hard and I caught the first aid kit from Gabriel and quickly analyzed my options. "Can you run the bath? Hot as you think a person like her can stand?" I asked and he went into the bathroom immediately and without question. We both had our areas of leadership- this sort of thing was mine.

There was a whoosh of running water behind me as I entered the bedroom again, pulling the drapes closed and flicking on the light. Ocean groaned and tried to cover her eyes. Bucky looked at he with more life then I'd seen in months. "What do you want to do?" he asked, almost like a child, ardently believing that a magician could truly wave a wand and conjure a dove from a hat. "I think she's running a temperature… and we need to see how badly she'd hurt. That's why Gabriel's running the bath. You know when you run hot water over a bruise it gets darker?" I explained and he nodded. Gabriel called out that the bath was full and Bucky pushed aside the duvet cover. Ocean tried to bury her head under the cover again with a groan like a teenager who can't be bothered waking up and he smiled faintly. "What's her name?" he asked and I opened the first aid kit. "Ocean. Her mom was a Marine Biologist." "Ocean." He rolled the word around his mouth a few times as though it were some tantalizing new flavor. He pulled himself up and softly spoke to her as he hauled her back into his arms. "Ocean… there've got to be some stories behind that name. What on earth is a Marine biologist?" she groaned slightly and I knew she was completely out of it, but I got the feeling the talking was making Bucky feel better.

There are some real disadvantages to having a bathroom that is a squash with two people, and trying to fit four in. The room seemed luminescent with the warm bulb, and steam stuck to everything and wafted thick in the air. Gabriel got shoved out into the hallway where he went back to his frantic pacing and I could imagine his inner turmoil. It was dangerous to have the pack so near humans like this. But I couldn't turn my back on the girl when she'd come so far. She seemed to wake up slightly with the heat and realizing that she was in a mans arms went as stiff as plywood. "uh, hi." I think that's the most illiterate I've ever heard her and I couldn't bite back a laugh. "Ocean, meet Bucky. Bucky meet Ocean." If the name Ocean was weird to Bucky, the name Bucky was even stranger to Ocean. I pulled some towels out of the draws and set them beside the steaming bath. "You need to warm up, honey. Okay?" She nodded mutely as though in a trance and Bucky let her stand on her own legs… but she just couldn't. She shook like an aspen leaf in a gale and sat on the edge of the tub, almost falling in.

"She's going into shock," he said and I nodded. "Do you mind if we take your top and jeans off?" I asked and she shook her head, as though beyond feeling shame. Bucky steadied her as I pulled the black sweatshirt over her head as though she were an obstinate four year old. Sitting on the bath edge without all that back clothing made her look smaller than ever. Ocean was practically anorexic- you could see the curve of her hip bones and her lower ribs through her flesh. But that wasn't all. Her entire body was blotchy with bruises. And I'm not talking small bruises, either. There was a bruise on her stomach shaped like a palm and she grimaced as I tentatively touched her skin, arms crossed over her chest. "at least you're not bleeding," I said softly as I flattened myself against the wall so Bucky had the room to help lower her into the water- scaldingly hot yet she sand into it with a grateful sigh. She rested in it up to her neck and she smiled, finally completely awake. "So this isn't a dream..." she said looking around, mainly at Bucky and I.

I grabbed a flannel and gently wiped the dirt, tears and conceiler off her cheeks and forehead. "Ocean, I need you to tell me the truth," I said softly, but firmly in a tone I'd heard Gabriel use. She grimaced again, but her eyes were on Bucky. "Don't make me go back, please don't make me go back!" she spoke faster and faster, eyes widening with some terror I pray to sweet moon I'll never personally see. Bucky caught her hand and pressed it to his heart. I watched them closely, but it was as though I'd completely vanished. "Ocean, do you feel this?" he asked and she nodded, obviously feeling his pulse. "And do you felt this?" he wrapped his massive fingers around her slender ones. She nodded. "When you feel these, nothing at all can happen to you. You're safe. Do you understand?" he asked and she nodded with a full smile I'd never seen before, but its glow was a straight line to one person. "You promise?" she asked softly and he nodded. "I swear."

She relaxed and I tried again. "Who did this to you, Ocean?" I asked and this time she looked at her hand on Bucky's chest with a sense of calm. "It's Theo… he was so drunk when he got home. He just went mad when I didn't do the dishes because I was studying for HSC." She looked at me. "He didn't mean to hurt me… he just doesn't know his strength." I looked down at her form in the water and couldn't suppress a hiss of sympathy. Here body was literally a patchwork quilt of white and deep purple. Bucky seemed to radiate with anger. Gabriel knocked on the door. "Is everything alright?" when none of us answered he opened the door and stood for a second just looking at her bruises in terror. Then, "You're Ocean, right?" she nodded mutely. He crouched down between Bucky and I. "Let me guess… you didn't remove every molecule of dust off his desk?" she grimaced, but couldn't move from his eyes though she tried. "Everything he told you- that you're slow, useless, pathetic…" she flinched as though he'd slapped her with his words. "Ocean, look at me." she actually did, a tear in her eye. "Listen to me- they're all lies to make you feel small so he can keep you under his thumb because he cannot bear you to live your own life. It's his sickness, his fault not yours. Do you hear me?" she nodded, and some of the smothered fire I'd noticed in her eyes the first time I saw her seemed to stir as tough somebody had prodded the embers.

"And you know what? Last time he did this, he came with roses and promises to change, didn't he?" he asked and the tear slid out of her eye, but she nodded, coming to life. "But this time… this time you were stronger than he is. You walked all the way up here by yourself. And when you stepped out that door you changed your future. You saw that life could be better, and you took that chance. Can't you see, Ocean? You're emancipated. You're free to write your own destiny, make your own choices and never be hurt again. Now your life is BE and AE." She looked at him curiously. "BE and AE?" he smiled. "Before Escape and After Escape. That means that from right now, life is anything you make of it. You have a new life and if you want it, a new family." She frowned. "a new family?" she asked, something hopeful in her voice. He grinned. "Yeah. Sister Vivian. Cousin Bucky." She tilted her face like an inquisitive sparrow. "Who are you?" he grinned. "I'm your Uncle Gabriel." She looked from Gabriel to me and back to Gabriel. "Are you related to Vivian?"

The concept actually made Bucky choke on nothing. Gabriel just smiled kindly. "Uh, Gabriel's my mate," I said awkwardly and she nodded as though this made all the sense in the world. Gabriel sobered quickly. "Ocean, it's important you tell us what happened to you so we can help you." She looked at the two males awkwardly and I shooed them out the door, leaning against the rim of the tub so my face was about 30cm from hers. She swallowed hard. I took her hand. "How about you start from the beginning?" I asked and she nodded. Then she began.

When it was all over, she was almost bouncing like a newly shorn sheep but I was feeling sick to the very pit of my stomach. If I ever meet Theodore Emerson, I'll rip his carotid out and let him bleed to death slowly. Grabbing some fresh clothes of mine- everything from underwear to t-shirts- she seemed suddenly utterly exhausted. As I helped her brush her long hair her eyes widened. "Where can I stay? I've got nowhere to go-" I put a hand firmly over her mouth. "You're not going ten meters from either Gabriel, Bucky or I tonight, or tomorrow, or the rest of this week. And when we let you twenty meters away from us, we'll give you an apartment of your own, and a job at the inn so you never have to leave. I can get your work from school so you can still sit HSC." She looked incredibly comforted and I awkwardly gave her a hug. I've never really been _this _close to any girl my own age. I grew up with the aggressive five.

"How are you feeling?" I asked and she smiled weakly. "I've been beaten worse before. But… your talking to me today… I don't know, it made me feel as though I was worth something and I didn't want to let that feeling go." In the end, Ocean Godly feel into a dead sleep on my bed after Bucky gave up the Jack Daniels and held her hand to his heart the whole night. Gabriel and I pushed the couches together to make a temporary bed and only when all the lights were turned off and Gabriel had removed all space between us did I whisper the sickening feeling in my stomach. "Ocean hasn't had her period in three months… Gabriel, I think she's pregnant."


	17. Broken Glass

**Chapter 17: Broken Glass**

**Vivian Gandillon**

If you had a choice, and you could have your rapist's child or have an abortion, which would you choose? It's a simple yes or no question, really. The problem comes when you add the human element- then it becomes a series of ethical complications and a snarled mess of principal and emotion. Abortion is murder, but what do you tell your kid when they're old enough to realize they're missing the second half of the parent equation? And how would you feel, if you knew you are the result of something so horrific? What would that do to your sense of self? These questions rage in my mind as morning light streams in my window and over our faces. Gabriel's hand wandered from my neck and I rolled my eyes. "Miss the fact we have people sleeping in the next room?" I whispered and he groaned. "They wont be moving until lunchtime." I felt my heart pound and ran my hand teasingly down his stomach and just when he sucked in a breath I rolled away slightly. He groaned. "You don't want to wake them up? Fine. We can be quiet." I smirked. "Uh, not yet we haven't." he reached for me and smiled, waking up slightly more. "First time for everything… face it, you want me." He was right there… I silently cursed his uncanny ability to sense my emotions.

"I thought we were past this, baby," he crooned softly, slowly pulling me closer, me pulling further away. "We could take this slow. You could learn to like me." Suddenly he pulled me towards him, rolling us over until he was leaning on top of me- "Or we could take this fast and rough." I think I kissed him first, completely claiming his mouth as his thigh pressed my lower stomach. He took control, doing something incredible- there was a groan at the door and a yawn as somebody stretched. The cover over our head fell down and Bucky strolled past in his jeans alone, scratching his back. He glanced at us. "Don't mind me, I'm just getting a coffee," he said, boiling the jug which happened to be in the same room. If I were somebody else looking in on this I would have laughed, but as it was being watched by your mate's best friend was enough to make me cringe. Gabriel groaned and leant his head on my shoulder. "We have _got _to get our flat back," he muttered and I nodded, kissing him hard and not caring if Bucky saw.

"But until we do, it's outdoor camping," I decided between kisses and he bit my earlobe. "I like this idea… feel like outdoor camping right now?" I laughed and shoved him off. "I bet I can outrun you tonight." His eyes changed and his teeth lengthened. "Only because I let you… it's dark in Bangkok right now." I moved my head side ways. "Nice try, but this is Vermont. _Ver_mont." I pulled myself out of bed and stretched… too close to the bed because Gabriel sat up and grabbed me so I fell hard against him, imprisoned in his arms as he kissed me so deeply my toes curled and I was ready to believe Vermont had somehow morphed into Bangkok. I wrapped my arms around his neck and let him go when suddenly I saw Ocean watching us. Gabriel growled deep in his chest, flicked aside the covers and scooped me up in his arms, holding me tightly to stop me wriggling free and walked out the door without a backwards glance at the two onlookers. I just caught Ocean's "Are they always like that?" and Bucky's "That was _nothing_." Before we let our imaginations turn to more interesting things.

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When we stumbled back through the door at midday, feeling better then I had in days I was surprised to find there were _biscuits _baking in the oven. Gabriel and I just watched it was though the tray were an osculating steak, as deprived of baked food as we were. "You know when you're a kid and every time you look in the fridge and hope something better has miraculously appeared?" Gabriel laughed "I still do that." I took a deep breath of the rich smell. Bucky walked back from the bedroom, smiling slightly. I did a double take. _Bucky _was _smiling_. What had Ocean done to him? "She's asleep again… woke up about an hour ago and started rummaging through your cupboards." At Maryland we talked to a chief as part of our careers class, and he said that the reason he loved his job was because he could create something from next to nothing. Was that what Ocean was trying to do? Or did she just want to cook? I'm probably over analyzing now. I walked into the dark bedroom where Ocean was fast asleep under the covers and flopped down on the bed, startling her into waking up. "Hey Vivian..." she said and I realized why she looked unusual- the entire right side of her face had swollen with black bruises. "Hey. How's your morning been?" I asked, determined not to look at that bruise and make her feel self conscious.

She smiled, still half asleep. "Great! You're so lucky to have a place like this." I know she meant the apartment though between the lines I could see plenty. A better home, a better family, a better mate, a better life. "I know. There're some really beautiful views from up the ridge, too." She looked at me shyly. "Is that where you were?" I blushed slightly. That was exactly where we'd been. "So your parents are here too?" she asked and I nodded, flopping me head down on a pillow that now had the lingering traces of Bucky. "Moms here anyway…everyone here is part of a big giant family even though we're not related." Sounds corny, but it's the best way to describe the bonds in the pack without coming into wolf metaphors. "And you live with Gabriel." I pictured just how weird everything must me looking from her eyes. "Uh, yeah." Uh, yeah. Nice work Vivian, that certainly clarified things for her. "Bucky said you guys were the equivalent of married," she said softly, even more sleepily.

I almost laughed. "Let me guess, after that he shut up so he didn't put both feet in his mouth?" Were we the equivalent of married? Does wanting to spend the rest of your life beside a person, wanting to wake up in their arms every morning and just wanting to hear their voice constitute marriage? "Something like that," she said with a sigh, obviously lapsing back into sleep. Then she growled, waking up slightly. "I keep wanting to move, but it hurts so much…" She admitted. If I had bruises like she did, I would want to be suspended by my ankles so none of my bruise were being touched. And here she was, lying in bed. "What did you do… all the other times?" I asked and she shuddered slightly. "He drove me to ICU last time. He told them I'd fallen off the roof, and that was how I'd broken my collarbone in two places. He acted like he was a parent taking care of a wayward kid until even I believed it. Falling off the roof seems more real in my mind now than getting hit." At school, girls are taught to recognize signs of family abuse in ourselves and others. If anybody else had even looked at her, this might never have gotten so bad.

It almost made my blood boil, just the thought of it. Then again, Ocean was wearing one hell of a mask over this bleeding girl. I wouldn't even have known it was this bad if she hadn't dragged herself miles up old country roads to land at my doorstep. Determined to change the subject I asked why she'd made the cookies. She couldn't answer it, but when I thanked her, her eyes lit up like a Christmas tree. Sweet moon, it's probably been months since she's been complimented. "You like them?" she asked, for the world sounding like and eager six year-old. I could sense that we were in for a future biscuit overload. She was asleep by the time I'd pulled myself off the bed and dropped down onto a couch in the living room, opposite Bucky who was wincing in the hangover from yesterdays Jack Daniels shots with some black coffee in hand and Gabriel, who from the glint in his eye was ready for a marathon. I'll never know how he does it- I would feel comfortable dozing for the rest of the afternoon with my tail over my eyes in the sun.

"Can you give me a lift into town?" I asked Gabriel who nodded, grabbing the coffee from Bucky, slugging it in one hit as he dropped it in the sink and grabbed the Harleys keys. I snatched them off him and danced out of reach. "We are not going to go grocery shopping with a Harley," I said firmly and he cocked his head. "You're _not _dragging me shopping. Only when hell freezes over." Fortunately, my determination won out and ten minutes later he was muttering as we unlocked Thomas's Holden. "When's the legal driving age?" I asked, an idea occurring to me. He shoved the key in the ignition. "Don't even think about it. You're my excuse for regular escape from this place. And anyway, it's not that I don't trust you with mechanics… I just don't trust you." Smart man. I'm a danger to all electronic and mechanic devices. Still, being told not to do something grated me. "So I can learn to drive? Awesome. I may as well get my learners license in town then." He groaned. "Does the concept 'no' have _any _meaning in your mind?" he asked and grinned. "Nope. How much does it cost to get somebody to teach you to drive?" I asked.

He pulled the car onto the side of the road. "The cost is just too high, sorry babe. But you could try-" I rolled my eyes. I've presumed for a while and now I'm sure- Gabriel's on/off switch is jammed at on. Seeing my expression he groaned and re-started the engine. "I hate it when you do that." I frowned. "Do what?" I asked, rubbing my finger up and down his arm, knowing it drove him crazy. When I lifted his hand to my lips he almost ran off Old Strop Road into a ditch. The power I had over him was exciting. He took a deep breath. "We could just pull over-" I shook my head. "The shops will close before we can get in. Anyway, I thought you were exhausted." He looked at his hand. "That was before you started this. Jesus Viv! Who taught you to do that?" he demanded as I ran the tip of my tongue over his palm. I laughed. "Actually, you did." I tortured him all the way into town, considering the idea of stopping versus getting real food in the cupboards. If it wasn't for this morning, the stopping would have won out by a mile.

The pharmacy was one of those pristine places that always manages to look immaculately tidy. Finding what I was looking for I brought it to the counter and smiled sweetly at the older woman who slowly read the title. "Pregnancy Test…" she looked me up and down, obviously sizing me up and finding me a grandmothers worst nightmare- the fall from grace of their grand daughters. For some reason I felt like bating her. "Don't you think it's interesting that a couple hundred years ago, being forced to marry a man you hate at fifteen years old was considered perfectly normal, and yet now marrying somebody you love before you turn twenty is frowned upon?" I asked as I paid for the package, walking confidently out of the shop as the woman's face burnt red. "Humans are stupid," I told Gabriel as I climbed back into the car, tucking the little brown passel into my pocket. "They would smile and cry at your wedding, earnestly wishing you luck and telling you what a good couple you are. But they would just as easily gossip with their neighbor how he was never right for him and the latest scandal." Gabriel laughed slightly. "Human nature. Be glad you're not human and aren't governed by their follies." Amen, I thought.

Shopping with Gabriel, whose last five years has been one long fast food experience, is fun. We pick up some mysterious fruits neither of us have ever heard of, draw weird looks when he fill our trolley with steak and choke as bin chilli powder a woman is spooning out by the ladle full into a bag becomes airborne and lodges in our delicate sinuses. I spend too long at the moisturizer department and he stubbornly refuses to put back the kegger. Remembering something Bingo told me, I took my time walking past the sanitary section and Gabriel actually walked along side, looking wistfully at the end of the isle and wishing it was closer. Bingo would have given the performance a 9/10. We checked out and parked outside Vermont High. In the end, Gabriel, who'd had a good laugh at my Economics teachers expense was determined to come in when I explained what I was going to do. It was lunchtime, and strolling down the congested corridors, the crowd split like the red sea before us. I felt Gabriel's fingers entwine with mine and I grinned. If we were going to cause a scandal, we may as well make memorable.

Mr Radford was still in his class organizing papers when we arrived. His small eyes darted from me to Gabriel and back again, mouth dropping slightly. Gabriel stepped forward and introduced himself, a model of politeness. Looking at him you'd think he didn't know a whit of Mr. Radford's opinion. The said teacher looked like a fish trying to breathe out of water, wasted away to a shadow by the younger mans eyes. I smiled at him. "Ocean Godly is unable to attend your classes for some time… could you set aside work for her that we may pick up each week?" I asked and he tripped over himself to agree, not even asking why she couldn't attend. I suppose that could have something to do with having a man who moves with the slow dangerous grace of a predator in your classroom. We stepped out of the classroom and Gabriel smirked. "That's a bag of wind if I ever met one." We went around all her other teachers, some who I'd never seen before and all agreed easily, most looking at us blankly when we said 'Ocean Godly'. By the time we got to the gate I was damm pleased to escape.

I waited for Gabriel to start to motor, but was surprised to see he was watching my face. "You're different." I frowned. "different in the sense that we're all unique, or different in the freakish sense?" I asked sarcastically. "Those humans are all your age, and yet you aren't like them at all. You're older then most of the teachers in there. You belong in a different world." I raised my eye bows, not prepared to tell him how much he'd nailed my feelings on the last bit. "More mature. None of them could even hope to be a real leader. You're beautiful and confident and intelligent and mine." I smiled. "So I'm private property now?" I asked and he nodded. "Absoloutly." I kissed him hard, pulling his head to mine as he ran his hand under my top. I broke away when I was half sprawled over his lap, being held upright by his arms. "Don't take me for granted," I whispered. "I never have," he hugged me closer and I rested my head on his shoulder. This man who could have any woman he desired, and I'm the one he wants. Lost in thought I curled up more on his lap, pressing myself close.

In a feat I'm never sure quite how me managed, he managed to drive across town with his arms wrapped around me, face resting on my hair. I looked out the window at a derelict house with a neat lawn and washing on the line. Black washing. "This is Oceans house?" I asked and Gabriel nodded. "She told Bucky the address. We should pick up some of her stuff." I nodded we slid out onto the sidewalk, Gabriel keeping a sharp look out. The house was as perfect as a run down villa could possibly be- completely clean, organized, neat. But there was a pain that seemed rooted in the air. We walked up to the front door as though we have all the right in the world to be here and turn the door knob. Locked. Gabriel sifted though some of his pockets, coming out with a few scraps of metal and began playing with the lock. I gasped when it actually clicked open. "When did you learn to do _that_?" I asked and he just smiled mysteriously. Another reminder of how little I know about him. The house was still and cold, and pain seemed to now ferment the air with another acrid taste- fear. Creeping through the rooms we made it to the lounge and saw the man who'd beaten Ocean black and blue unconscious on the couch, an empty Bailey's bottle on the floor. I stepped towards him, knowing that I was about to kill him.

Gabriel caught my hands and I looked into his eyes, seeing the same rage I felt. "Kill him when he's awake and able to feel it. Not now when he's in a different dimension.He desearves to be in just as much pain as he caused her before we kill him." The kitchen was neat and tidy. The bathroom was completely masculine. Infact, if I didn't know better I would have said that no female lived in this house at all. I reached the bedroom and stood at the doorway. On the bed was the perfect imprint of Oceans lithe body curled up in pain on the perfectly made duvet. There was broken glass on the floor, old blood and black hair amounst it. I switched my human nose for my more sensitive wolf nose and the currents of scent ran up my nose. The overpowering odor of Theodore- old sweat, anger and alcohol. And then, slight and dying traces of sea salt and lily. Impulsively I dropped to my knees to the source and then I found it. The only real scrap of Ocean in the entire house. A small shoebox tied closed with ribbon. I rested it on the surface of the bed, but refused to open it. That was too intrusive. Going thought the draws and finding some of her clothing I shook my head.

"These things are worn at best, and it will be a constant reminder for her. Lets leave it." I said softly and he nodded. Tucking the box under my arm I stepped back into the louge, drawn to the man on the couch. So this was the manipulator who could blind the most intelligent person I've ever met with his words. He looked unremarkable, really. He was middle height and bulk, with floppy rustic red hair that fell over his forehead in a coma. His ascetic face seemed early twenties but there was no conspicuous grimace on his face. His expression was on that smiled slightly even in the deepest sleeps, a face that seemed defined and honest. I stepped back quick, but the image stayed in my mind. Truly evil people do not have terrible faces or gimp legs. They come up with charm and a smile until they're close enough to slip a blade between our ribs. I turned around to find Gabriel tinkering with the fire alarm in the kitchen, grim mouthed. He finished what he was doing and pulled me out the front door, quickly locking it behind us. "What did you do?" I asked and he half smiled.

"I put a timer on the fire alarm. It's going to go off in ten minutes." His face took on a whole new dimension. "Believe me Babe, having a fire alarm go off when you have a hangover belongs in the seventh circle of hell." I smiled, kissing him impulsively on the cheek before I slung into the car. "I'm sad I have to miss it." Now his smile turned savage. "Don't worry, we'll be seeing him again. Mark my words." His eyes glowed red an we slid back up the old road to the compound in silence, the weight of the shoebox hefty on my lap. I rested my head on the window and slowly drifted away.

_It was as though I was cling to the roof, looking down in the small dark room that I recognized instantly- bingo's movie room. The TV was blaring some movie, but Bingo was curled up on the couch deeply asleep, her gold hair shining in the TV's weak light. No, it was the boy covered by the duvet yet still shivering that caught my attention. That same floppy hair, that same pale skin. But his eyes… his eyes were haunted. Suddenly he looked right up as though he could see me. "Vivian!"_

The word that started on his lips ended in a scream from above my head, and gentle hands on cradling my face. I opened my eyes to see Gabriel leaning over me but my mind was pulling me back. I fought hard, brining tears to my eyes but it only weakened me. There was no way I could surpress this dream. All I could do was wait.

_You always know a Dry Cleaners when you walk into one. It's the steam hanging in the air, the thin plastic over the clothes and the constant burr of washing machines. I looked at my hands as I bought down the heavy lid of the press onto a pair of grey flannel trousers, shoulders aching. She/I were not very strong, but this was the best job We could find in Detroit. These ideas waft over my brain easier this time, and I wonder if I'm slowly merging into Sacha. A bald headed man appears at my side and We wince as somebody pushes a whole lot of hanging clothes along, making the coat hangers creak with a terrible noise against the rack. "Hey Sanchez! Get a load of what I found on the latest police watch chart." He waved the piece of paper in front of our face, but we refused to reach for it. "What is it?" We ask, releasing the upper press, completely wet from all the steam. _

"_Apparently some girl disappeared a couple of weeks back. One Sacha Wilson." We couldn't quite hide back a shudder. If he found me, so would the past. "5'5'', black hair, blue eyes, pale skin, birthmark on her left wrist." We both looked pointedly at the bulky watch covering my wrist. I smiled at the man. "Richard, would you excuse me? I need some fresh air." I let the press go and stepped outside. The sun was blindingly bright after the dark factory, but We kept walking. A couple of blocks down was a Bus depo, packed with people. We pushed through the crowd and asked when the next bus was leaving. I regretfully passed over forty dollars, almost the last of my money I'd managed to stretch for a month. Clutching the ticket to Chicago in my hands I sat on the double decker bus, turning my face into the chair. I didn't want my face to be seen more then it already was. I didn't want my face to see any more. The bus lurched away and in five minutes I threw away the last two weeks of my existence. Cast it to the winds. One day I'd run out of places to hide, but today the wolves wouldn't catch me. I looked in the reflection of the window, seeing my face. It was different from when I'd walked out of the Prom. I looked older, more tired… "He's coming for you. Tell him, tell him…" she seemed to be speaking. "Tell me what?" I yelled._

But it was too late. I drifted out of the bus to Chicago and into Gabriel's arms. "What does she want from me!" I cried and he hugged me close. "It's the past. Forget it." I thought of Sacha and shook my head grimly. "I can't… she keeps trying to talk to me but can never get the words out. I've got to hear her!" I looked around. Turns out Gabriel carried me back into our apartment and dumped me on our sofa. Ocean was leaning over me, chafing my hand and looking generally concerned. I smiled for her sake. I sat up, "I've got to go make peace with somebody." I walked straight out the door with one destination in mind; Esmé's apartment.


	18. Blood and Chocolate

**Chapter 18: Blood and Chocolate**

**Vivian Gandillon**

Later, as the sky darkened and Bucky finally ran out of hilarious stories about his days mustering in the Appalachian Mountains (yes, surprises happen daily here…) and the two guys decided they really did need to do that painting upstairs in the inn (English translation; go for a hunt) Ocean and I were alone for the first time. "Your life is never boring, is it?" she says with a satisfied sigh after the guys left. I shook my head. "I wish you knew how true that was." She dipped her head. "What? You actually get bored with those two around? Wow." I shook my head. "It's not boredom that will get you… it's the insanity." She flopped down on the couch beside me and felt that if I ever had a sister, this is what it would feel like. Then I remembered. "Remember what you said last night?" I asked and she blushed. "Not really, no." I dipped my head. "You told me you hadn't had your period in almost a month." She blushed. "I did? Is there anything I _didn't _say last night?" she asked and I grinned smugly. "You left out the little fact of being completely infatuated with a certain male, 6'2'', blonde hair, brown eyes, a penchant for Jack Daniels and a whole lot of scars on his neck. Am I hot or am I cold?"

She blushed a bright, complete cherry red. "How'd you-" I grinned back wolfishly. "Actually I was bluffing, but thanks for confirming the theory." She gasped and whacked me with a couch cushion and war was declared. Ten minutes later and a whole lot of bean balls littering the carpet we managed to stop giggling long enough to get serious…ish. "I don't know… I feel safe around him. He makes me laugh-" "-you don't take yourself so seriously around him?" I volunteered and she whacked me with the last available pillow. "I don't take myself seriously!" she gasped and I smirked. "You're the most serious person I know. Anyway, we had a list going here. He makes you laugh. He makes you feel safe…" I looked at me with a raised eye brow. "You're enjoying this, aren't you?" she asked and I grinned, allowing my toenails, hidden in my sneakers, to shorten and lengthen in satisfaction. "You want the truth? Fine, I'll give it to you. But if you laugh, I'm coming after you with every pillow in this inn." I smirked but shook her hand. "Deal. Now shoot." She sighed and looked down.

"I saw you the first day you arrived at school with Gabriel. I don't know… the way you guys touched, and looked at each other... I wanted that. You know, you're both walking in this apartment and I can almost feel the invisible bonds binding you to together. I've never seen any other people who seem like they're sharing a heart. And you can still talk about anything at all. You trust him not to betray your heart and he trusts you to understand." She laughed. "You guys probably don't even realize it, but you're the same. Both all big and tough on the outside, but soft and loving and as delicate on the inside as marshmallows if you can get past the impenetrable minefield." I laughed. "I've never been described as a marshmallow before," I said thoughtfully and she smirked. "and I've never been described as serious before." She poked her tongue at me. "So we're even." I laughed again. We were silent for a second and then the heavy artillery came out. "Did you always want to be with him, or did it just happen suddenly?" she asked, leaning against the arm rest to watch my face.

I smiled. "Actually, Gabriel was the one who wanted me. I thought I was in love with somebody else at the time and all I wanted was for Gabriel to lay off." She looked intrigued. "What happened?" I sighed. "The boy hurt me deep and Gabriel was the only one who understood. I think I loved him before that, and I realize it more every single day." I looked at her. "Can you understand?" I asked and she shook her head. "Understanding is wonderful, but it doesn't matter if I understand it. It only matters if you understand it." I thought about that, holding her hand against mine, comparing the sizes. My hands were larger, but her fingers were incredibly long. I looked up at her and smiled. "I've always wanted to believe that if you love a person unconditionally enough, they'll forgive you for all your flaws. And no matter how often the idea fails, I still like to think it's possible." She snorted. "I don't care if you howl to the full moon at the stroke of midnight. You're a sister and a friend." Could she possibly know how close to the truth her words came? I gave her a tight hug, noticing how much easier it got every time I did.

"And I don't care if you are an obsessive baker. You're a sister and friend." He grinned. I felt the package bulge in my pocket. "Ocean, I went to the pharmacy today and got a pregnancy test." I said it quickly, as though ripping a plaster off my arm. She sighed. "I'd almost forgotten." She put her hand on her stomach and impulsively I put my hand over hers. "It'll be okay Ocean. It's just better to be sure it hasn't happened then find out in a two months time that there's fire beneath all this smoke." She nodded, and I pulled the packet out of my pocket. The oblong box was crushed, but intact. Even I blushed as I read the instructions on the packaging. I'll settle to say the process wasn't in the slightest part 'fun'. She grimaced, and opened it up. "Hey, there are two tests here." I nodded. "Probably so you can double check." I volunteered and she grimaced. "Would _you _want to do this twice?" she asked and I had to agree, she had a point. "Fine, how about this… I do one, you do one." I'm not sure what made me say it, besides a desire to understand more of what she was going through. That decided her. She went into the bathroom and I rummaged through the draws until I found two blank envelopes, carefully writing a name on each in the extravagant hand Persia taught me. What we found in those envelopes in twelve hours had the potential to change our lives forever… well, hers anyway. I'm positive I'm not pregnant.

I sat on the couch thinking, what if it's positive for her? Will I recommend her to abort, or would I recommend her to keep it? What would I do? That one I knew the answer to, and if settled over me firmly. If I ever have a pup, I want to be the sort of mother who fights to the bitter end to give my child a good life… the sort of stability and unconditional love my father gave me and my mother always tried to. When she finally came out of the bathroom she carefully placed the little test in the envelope with her name and sealed it. She smiled bravely and I smiled back, grimly closing the bathroom door and conducting the test before I sealed it in my own envelope. Is it possible for two feather light envelopes to have the weight of a freight train?

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It was damm near midnight when Bucky and Gabriel came back inside and Ocean smiled. "Good painting?" she asked and they both looked blank until they remembered their lie. "Oh, brilliant. White wash has never looked better." Bucky spoke over Gabriel and I had to agree that it wasn't only Ocean who'd changed. Bucky blushed under my inquisitive gaze and turned to Ocean. "Do you want to go for a walk?" he asked, looking pointedly at the two of us. Maybe Gabriel's licking his lips when he came in had been a little too obvious if even Bucky'd noticed it. She smiled and borrowed my thick fleece jacket. They walked out the door and both Gabriel looked at the clock. "Five minutes," I told him. "Ten," he added. "Just to be sure." He pulled me towards him. I grinned. "Could you always read my thoughts?" I asked and he bit my softly on the lip. "And here I was thinking you were the one who'd read my mind." He kissed me hard, parting my lips with his practiced tongue and I submitted, letting me taste every part. "You may as well be occupied for those ten minutes." He said as he broke away and his hands went up my top and I tangled my fingers in his hair.

"Did you talk to Bucky?" I asked and we both knew what we were talking about. He moved his mouth to my ear. "I didn't need to. Mention the girls name around him and take a sniff. I've seen the guy with a couple of Tooley's girls, and it was nothing like this." I ran a long tongue up his cheek and laughed slightly. "She thinks we're marshmallows." He broke away with a bark of laughter distorted by his changing voice box. "Way to get a guy down, babe." I scratched at his back with long claws, drawing lines of blood. We looked at the clock and I untangled myself. He pulled me closer, pulling my t-shirt over my head as I pulled his shirt open so hard some of the buttons pinged off. He threw it away and ran his fingers around my back to unclip my bra (so many had been destroyed there was a point where I had to teach him this art) "My only presentable shirt, babe." I ran my fingers over his stomach, lower and lower. "I'm sure you'll forgive me someday."

When all the clothing is heaped on the floor in a bedraggled pile at our ankles and all space is removed between us we fit like two jigsaw pieces. In a process that has become almost a special ritual, we perform the change simultaneously. You know how you don't know what you've got until you lose it? I think that every time I change by myself. We ran out the front door on padded paws, Gabriel in the lead and easily picking up the trail. So we were going to eavesdrop on the lonely loup-garou and a bleeding girl. We had our reasons. Curiosity, I'm ashamed to say, was right at the top of my list. As I trailed Gabriel through the forest trails I was surprised they'd gotten so far. Then suddenly the air changed- there was a sweet breeze and the caphonicany of water falling over rocks. I never knew there was a waterfall here. Gabriel glanced back at me, his eyes a reflected red in the moons glow. I change to my human form to lean over the top of a bank hidden by undergrowth to hear the pair, changing my ears to hear more clearly.

Gabriel curls his huge form around me and I curl up, fingers and deep in his rich black fur. Ocean is laughing as Bucky catches her as she jumps across the main flow of water and for a treacherous second their faces are so close, but the second passes and he lets her go. They settle onto a mossy green rock on the opposite side of the river, Ocean watching the waterfall in a child's innocent wonder, Bucky watching her face. He pulled off his own jacket and wrapped it around her shoulders. She smiled and leaned against him. "For warmth," she said. I felt Gabriel stir beside me but I wrapped a hand firmly around his muzzle. "Just because our human choices didn't work out, doesn't mean that nothing ever will." He relaxed slightly, but his body was wary. He buried his head into my front and I hugged him close, eyes on the couple. Bucky asked her what she liked most about the sea, and she told him a story about beautiful women called selkies that changed into Seals and lived in the sea, only able to return to their homes if they could wear their seal skins. About a young selkie who took off her seal skin to dance on the beach and about a guy who fell in love with her and stole the coat so he could be with her. Years later she discovered the skin and was never seen again. But the way she told it- made it sound beautiful.

Bucky was even more entranced then I was, and when she finished and looked down at her chilled hands Bucky gently tilted her chin gently up to look at her and softly kissed her. Both Gabriel and I stopped breathing, faces pressed together as we watched. Jesus Bucky, you're done for… just _don't change!_ She leaned closer and wrapped her arms around her neck and he picked up her small form, so fragile by comparison to this densely muscled torso and pulled her closer so she was curled in the space between his legs. Bucky's arm wrapped around her back and we both saw his claws grow long and sharp. I felt Gabriel's body surge into motion and it took all my strength to hold him down. "Gabriel listen to me!" I hissed and he turned to me, his long face patient. I sighed. "Aiden only wanted magic because he was bored. Nothing else. But Ocean, she needs it for hope. Just give her a chance." I prayed with my whole heart to the sweet moon that she would be a human who could understand and deal with us. She broke apart slightly and leaned against his chest, measuring his heartbeat (which right now was probably a little unsteady by the look of it) when she noticed his hand. She stiffened for a moment, and then, miraculously relaxed.

Gabriel and I looked at each other in wonder. "That's impossible," he muttered I smiled, feeling my heart lift I was right. There was some acceptance in humanity. "No. That's Ocean." She looked up at his face, which was turned away from her as his hand became firmly human ago. "What's wrong?" she asked softly and gently turned his head as he had hers. He looked at her in complete wonder, the love shining from his eyes. Gently, he reached to her with a hand that slowly developed long claws. Tentatively she reached out and ran her fingers over his mew hand in wonder. Then she put it to her lips. "You're beautiful," she told him and I Gabriel turned to me, burying his head in my shoulder. I held him, knowing he was remembering the moment his world flared red and Sacha rejected him. I remembered Aiden's eyes, blind with terror. Ocean traced the lines of knotted scars on his throat. "You have an interesting story I want to hear," she whispered to him and he kissed her, but this time it wasn't nearly as gentle. It was passionate, a kiss that meant something.

"I want you to be part of that story," he said, holding her close and I raised my eyebrows. They've known each other for three days. Three days. Wow Bucky… I didn't think you had it in you, but that was smooth, romantic and blatantly obvious. To my surprise she drew away slightly. "Bucky, I'm almost certainly pregnant. And… I don't want an abortion." She looked down, and moved away slightly, but Bucky grabbed her. "I don't care if you are!" he told her fiercely. "I'd raise it as my own child." That even made Gabriel's eye brows rise. "That guy is taken… hook… line… and sinker." He said and I smirked. "You wouldn't do the same for me?" He licked my face with a wolf tongue. "Of course I would… but only after I gave the real father a slow and painful death." I smiled. "Just as well I wasn't harboring that idea, then" I said sarcastically. He looked at Bucky. "But this is _Bucky_. He'd take the kid out to get pissed on its fifth birthday." I hated to admit it, but there was truth to those words. Not to mention the whole 'daddy changes into a wolf' bit that could get ugly. She looked at him again. "You're kidding me, right?" she asked and he slowly ran his fingers caressingly over her stomach. She smiled. "I want you to show me." she said and he looked at her face. "Show you what?" he asked, confused and she kissed him on the lips.

Gabriel raised an eye brow. "I'll give this much to the girl… she's got quick wits." Instantly Bucky moved to kiss her deeper, and this time the change moved more quickly, and he threw himself off her before he could hurt her, shedding his clothing as he made a smooth transition to his wolf form. She laughed in wonder and stood up, carefully walking to the massive creature that was as high as her hip. Slowly she reached out and brushed a hand against the top of her head. "Magic is real," she whispered and I knew that if something as impossible as this could happen to her, she could accept anything else in her past, present and future. She swatted down until she was face to face with the wolf, burying her fingers in his fur. I pulled away from Gabriel and pulled myself to my feet, running down the hill and jumping over a log, changed form in the air so I hit the ground with four paws and charged up the hill to catch the swollen moon above my head, wondering if I run fast enough, could I fly? I heard the thunder of Gabriel's pursuit behind me and grinned. Who needs wings to fly?

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Gabriel and I are curled up under a giant rock for shelter, watching the moon grow lower in the sky when a thought occurs to me, so simple I hit my forehead with the base of my palm. Or, I would have if Gabriel hadn't caught my arm. I pulled away and ran full kilter for home, heart hammering in my ribs and I almost ran into a tree when I heard the entwined baying of the five across the ridge, but I didn't stop. I ran right down to the compound, jumping all the steps up to our apartment with a single bound before I leapt back into my human form and throw my clothing on quickly. Gabriel appears at the doorway, buck naked. "Do I get an explanation, babe?" he asked and I threw him his jeans and grabbed my sketch pad and pencils. I paused at the bedroom door to find Ocean curled up in Bucky's arms. I pushed past Gabriel. "Can you wake up Bucky? I'll be at Persia's… I'll explain everything then." I sprinted across the compound and hammered on Persia's door. A light flickered on in the lounge where Ross slept and he unlocked the door warily. He smiled when he saw me.

"Gabrielle! A little early to be making morning calls, don't you think?" he asked as he let me in and Persia appeared at the bedroom doorway in a long night gown that I couldn't stand to sleep in. "Vivian. Another dream?" she asked, setting the jug on in the kitchen slowly. I shook my head. "I had an idea that couldn't wait." I turned to Ross. "Do you remember the face of the guy that attacked you?" I asked and he nodded, making space for me on the sofa. I took a deep breath. "If you describe him to me, I'll draw him. Okay?" Ross looked surprised but shrugged, and Persia pressed a cup of Chamomile tea into his hands. "He was tall and skinny… strong, but skinny. His hair was short… and spiky. His face was oval. Uh, his chin was clef… I think…and he had a slight widows peak. His eyes were American. His lips were… I suppose slightly bigger then mine and he had quite high cheek bones." I drew while he said this, combining all these features into a rough rendering, and then added depth and detail. I was vaguely aware of Gabriel and a yawning Bucky walking into the room, followed by a slight shadow they hadn't realized followed them; Ocean. When I finished, I passed my sketch book to Ross.

"Is this the man?" I asked and after a few minor tweaks he agreed. That was when I looked at the face as a whole and I felt as though somebody had whacked me in the stomach with a metal baseball bat. I passed the rendering to Gabriel who looked the way I felt. "Son of a-" Bucky grabbed the sketch and a muscle in his jaw contorted. Gabriel stepped up to take the lead. "We know who did this, but this is not enough proof. We need to find the ammonium he used, or the materials he used to make it." Suddenly Ocean piped up. "Ammonium? NH4? I thought it was unusual to have ammonium up here, but-" Gabriel turned to her, focusing her with his full attention and she swallowed hard. Not many people can withstand that gaze, and she looked at her feet. "When I went for a walk with Bucky I noticed an empty container half buried in the sand by the river."

Gabriel put a hand quickly on the girls shoulder. "I want you to take Bucky to this container." He turned to Bucky. "I want you to find out if it was ever in contact with him." He turned to Persia. "I want you to be ready… there could be trouble." He looked at me. "We'd better go raise the pack." Ross stood up as we walked out the door. "What can I do?" he asked and Gabriel turned to look at him. "Because of you, it may be possible to avert an almost certain catastrophe to this pack when the killer strikes again." He smiled. "Vivian was right to save your life." Ross looked at me in wonder before looking back at Gabriel. "I know you find it difficult to accept your new form, I'm sorry, but there is nothing you can do in your present condition." He did have a point- there were vicious butterfly stitches littering Ross's forehead that looked more menacing than usual in the dim light. "I'm sorry," he said and we headed for the door, dropping our clothing off on the ground of Persia's yard as we sprinted across the compound, waking up the five, Glyn, Orlando, Renata and her husband Rolf, Magda and her husband Raul, James, Flavia, Odessa, Shawn… lights flicked on all around the compound and Bucky appeared with the bottle and a lank of hair in his hands.

"Stupid bastard didn't bury it deep enough and the bank eroded with that rain storm a few days ago." I looked to see Ocean, pure eyes terrified and curious in equal measure. "Bucky, hide her in the forest!" I hissed and he picked the girl up as though she had no substance and ran for the bush. No explanations were needed. Everybody milled out in their wolven forms and as soon as they saw Gabriel with the bottle they half changed back. They all waited in silence as I allowed myself into Esmé's apartment and knocked on the door. I heard her soft, sleepy voice warm with sleep and my heart ached. The truth is often more hateful then lies. "Mom! It's Vivian. We need you guys out here." She groaned. "Fine, we're coming." Mom appeared at the door in a dressing gown and Thomas in a pair of jeans. The walked outside and I closed the door behind them, quickly drawing mom aside and into the crowd. Bucky appeared back and took Esme off me, ready to hold the woman back as realization dawned. Thomas looked down at the crowd of us, eyes glowing demonic green.

Gabriel stepped out and held up the empty ammonium bottle. "This was found at the back of your apartment, half buried in the dirt. A convincing description has been drawn from the mortally wounded man you attacked. Do you deny, Thomas Harrison, that you framed Lucian Dafoe for the attempted murder of a human? That you made Finn disappear?" Tomas looked side to side as though looking for an excuse. I stepped forward, remembering the way he'd run when the police came to question me over vandalizing Kelly's room. "Or why every time you hear a police siren you duck for cover?" he looked at Esme. "I'm sorry baby." He looked at Gabriel. "Yes, it is true." The entire crowd murmured in surprised. A full confession. "I killed three men in Yellowstone, and tried to start a new life, but I couldn't stop. I-" Gabriel stepped towards the man. "You have condemned yourself with your own words. You killed humans for the joy of it and endangered the pack. You have proven you are a danger to us all-" "No!" Tomas screamed and suddenly he pulled a long bowie knife out of his pocket. Time seemed to slow down and I stepped in front of Gabriel only to find myself shoved out of the road as Tomas threw it. I crashed to the ground and pandemonium raged around me. The men grabbed Tomas, kicking and screaming for a few seconds after Gabriel broke his neck as though a final denial of the reality of death.

But not even the agonized screams of a woman whose heart has broken twice could pierce my mind. I leaned over the man who saved my life and the life of my mate. Barely conscious, Ross lay on the muddy ground, the long blade lodged just below his heart between two ribs. Nothing could save him. It was just me leaning over him, and in his eyes I saw a reflection of myself. "You aren't meant to die, you-" I touched the stain gathering around the blade, wondering if the strength of my body could somehow skip through me fingers "Shh, help's coming. Hold on and be strong," I tell him, knowing this wound is mortal. "For you, Gabrielle. Only for you." I leaned over and kissed his grizzled forehead. "Your father waits for you in heaven," I told him softly, praying to the moon for his sake He is. "Then one day you and I shall meet again." A tear dripped off my face and onto his cheek. "Thank you." And then, with a smile on his lips his eyes dilated. He was dead. I leaned over and kissed him again on the forehead. Somebody gathered me in his arms and I cried numbly into his shoulder. "He saved our lives," Gabriel whispered in amazement. He hugged me closer. "It's over, Vivian. We have made our pack safe." So why did the screams of my mother, crying into Bucky's fur stick into my soul like barbs? Several of the men hoisted Ross onto their shoulders and I pushed away from Gabriel.

He took my shoulders. "You would have sacrificed yourself for me." he said it as a matter of fact. I looked at him as my heart flooded in turmoil. "That's that you do for those you love. You protect them." I kissed him softly on the cheek before touching my mothers shoulder. For a second she looked right through me, but when she saw me she grabbed onto me like a life raft. I helped her back up the stairs and we sat down hard on the sofa, and for the second time in my life I held my mother in my arms as her world fell apart and a bitter floodtide of sleep overcame her, finally silent, cheeks dry. But sitting up through that night, my heart aching and silent tears dripping down my face onto my mothers' hair I didn't have the luxury of sleep.

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Dawn showed only paw marks and odd prints in the soft soil outside Esmé's apartment. When Persia came around to care for my mother I went around investigating the damage. People were shaken, and I offered reassurances, answers, and explanations. When I reached my apartment I wasn't surprised to find Ocean and Bucky there- but I was surprised to see Ocean curled in the corner, tears streaming down the half of her face the wasn't buried in Bucky's fur. When she saw me she leapt to her feet and buried her head in my shoulder. The she pulled away and pounded my chest. "Why did you do that?" she cried. "You could've died!" I grabbed her hands and held her close again. "This is my pack, he is my mate. I would die if it meant saving them." I said and she buried her head back in my shoulder. "He killed him!" she said in terror. I looked at Bucky. Obviously the girl had snuck back to see what was going on. "Ocean, that man killed at least five, if not six people. He had to be stopped. But we don't have a jail. We don't have that sort of choice." She looked up at me.

I wiped away a tear on her cheek. "If we didn't make such a punishment, our kind would have died out generations ago," I said softly. Bucky took the girl out of my arms and she seemed to stand on her own feet. It seemed as though she had gotten the killing out of her moral dilemma. She turned to Bucky. "Do you need any help doing any decorating in the inn?" she asked and I vanished out the door. Ocean would be fine... which is better then can be said for my mother. One person begins to heal, another breaks. Is this what it means to be pack leader? To hold your pack up on your shoulders when then the world drops out from under them? I walked into Persia's empty apartment and picked up Ross's small bible and hugged it to my chest. I found Gabriel in one of the inn's personal rooms, doing the third coat of warm lemon on the walls. I sat on the bed covered in plastic so it didn't get flicked and just sat in silence with him. "How is Esme?" he asked and I grimaced. "The verdict was never going to be good on that count." He sighed. "I'm guessing Bucky's holding Oceans head above water?" he asked and I nodded. He dropped the paint brush. "If there is anything I detest about being back leader it's… _this_!" He suddenly yelled and I closed the door. He leaned hard against the wall.

"Gabriel, no matter how much you tear yourself up about this, you did the right thing. If you hadn't, it's likely he would have done the same thing again." I could feel his retorts as he thought them; but I killed your mothers' fiancé! And my answers to them; I know. I held her through the night. Two men are dead! One deserved it. The other hated his existence. You jeopardized yourself! You're my mate. "It's like every time I take a life he gets bigger and bigger inside me," he said and I knew I'd reached the real root of his pain. I put a hand on his shoulder. "Your father was a bully by choice. You are protecting your pack. That is very different." He turned. "It is really, Vivie?" he asked, clearly disbelieving. "Yes. If you don't want to believe me, look at the great American responsibility… to protect your family by any means possible." He sighed. "It just feels so empty… I was expecting there to be happiness that we're all safe, but it's just so empty." I shrugged. "Isn't it a good thing the killing isn't joyous to you?" I wrapped my arms around him the way he always protects me.

Finally we let each other go and I picked up the other paint brush and I spent the rest of the day going from room to room, painting walls with the same paint. Will I remember Ross every time I see this colour? Will I remember Tomas? Then a thought occurred to me. "Gabriel, what if we hadn't tried so hard to save Ross and he'd died that night he was attacked… would we have ever found of the killer? Would one of us be dead right now?" He dropped the paintbrush and crushed me close. "Please don't go there. I've spent most of the day wondering that." I dropped off the job early to make tea, but when I arrived back at our apartment Ocean was hogging the bench space; there were three big containers packed with fresh warm biscuits and she had steaks sizzling on the stove as she diced up a salad. She'd put Bucky, who was watching 'Worlds Best Cop Chases XVI', to work stirring the contents of four bowls. She breezed past me as I looked at her, appalled.

"Hey Viv! Want a biscuit?" unable to resist temptation I sampled one. It was delicious. Bucky looked back at me. "She had me sack all the apartments along this block for cooking equipment." Ocean blushed. "I may have gone a little overboard." I looked at the salad, steaks, bread, immaculately tidy house and enough biscuits to feed the entire pack for a few days. "You just might have, but it's absolutely awesome of you. I wasn't looking forward to throwing something together." She beamed and lowered the heat on the stove. "How do you like your steak?" she asked and Bucky and I called "Rare!" over each other. She grinned and looked at me. "Fine… but I get one question." One question for all this? Is there any way I'm losing? I nodded. "Okay. I want the truth." I yelped. "That isn't one question!" She smiled. "Want the steak?" I admit, I was salivating at that steak… tinned spaghetti just doesn't cut it for me. "First… all you people are werewolves?" she asked and I grimaced. "We prefer loup-garou, yes, we are. You run your mouth and you wont live to see the pay check." She laughed. "And throw all this away? Are you nuts? Right, next question. Gabriel and you lead the pack don't you?"

I nod, wondering where this was going. She looked amazed. "Wow. Uh, number three-" thankfully she didn't get to ask question three… Gabriel walked through the door. "Unless my country breed nose deceives me, real food is back on the menu." He kissed Ocean on the cheek and pulled me to him, kissing me passionately in the middle of the kitchen until Ocean told us to move or be burnt by the frying pan. He broke away with a smoldering smile. "You taste of hokey pokey cookies." I pointed at the pile of cookie boxes piled on our table and he whistled, opening a tin and snagging four. I stole one and we chomped on them contentedly. There was a small knock on the door and Esme stood on the steep looking miserable. Ocean put another fat steak on the pan and Esme watched the cop show with Bucky, who passed me the bowls of mixed substances. This time the intense girl brought out a pile of muffin tins. "Chocolate, caramel, banana and apple." She said proudly as Gabriel and I helped her fill the trays. "Sweet moon, Ocean, we're going to have to give some of this away!" he snagged a piece of the chocolate muffin mix on the tip of his finger, sampling it. "Not those though. They're mine." The girl put all four racks into the oven and brushed her hands, looking for something else to do.

"I know. That's the point. You could give some to your guests, sell some… I figure your pack might tolerate me better if I contribute peace offerings." I smirked and elbowed Gabriel. "She just summed up our only weakness. The stomach." I joked. Five people in the apartment and it was feeling near bursting point. Gabriel pushed the couches around the coffee table and Ocean dished out plate after plate. Even mom managed to smile at Ocean. We squashed onto the couches, and ate the best food I've come near in weeks. Gabriel explained the finer details of the tricks he and his mates played at high school (such as the fire alarm for the hangover), Ocean talked about the sea and I pointed out and told them what I was going to do with the apartments walls… when I got time. I had the idea to dedicate a wall to paint every person of meaning to the two of us, and that was greeted with support.

By the end of tea even mom had a small smile on her lips. As Gabriel washed the dishes and I dried them, discussing the finer points of why Shakespeare's a misogynist pig (a conversation I never guessed in a million years I'd ever have with Gabriel) mom slipped up beside me, arm resting like a small bird on my elbow. "Honey, do you mind if I stay here tonight?" she asked and I nodded. "As long as you need to, mom," I told her, regretting the words as I said them and yet knowing that I must. She hugged me, told me she loved me, and moved to join Bucky and Oceans aggressive game of poker with the beaten cards I'd snagged from a draw in the inn foyer.

Gabriel and I sat down to watch the game, but somehow I felt my eyes drooping beyond my call and I drifted straight into Sacha's embrace. And this time there was something very different. It wasn't just me inhibiting her body in a dream- I _was _Sacha. _It was dark, and from the dank smell in the air, the chorus of voices in the next room and chinks of glasses it was a bar. We turned to see a woman walking towards us it tight, low cut jeans and bikini top. Samantha, Sacha told me. Boss lady around here. She smiled and wrapped an arm around our shoulders. "Nervous?" Sacha's facial muscles are like a giant sieve. It's annoying. "It's your first time… you've got rights 't be. Just give 'em a show, girl." We all stood in silence, contemplate the finality in those words. Sacha sighed as the other woman moved away. This is my last chance, she thought. If I fail this, there is nothing else. I felt a surge of recognition with the girl. When all your chances are gone and somebody gives you one last go to succeed, you'll cling to it like a dying man on a flotation donut._

_Sacha looked down- she was wearing the same thing as Samantha, only slightly more revealing. Sacha pointed her chin out stubbornly. They wanted a show? It's a show I'll give them, one side of her seemed to demand. The side that let her survive the last few weeks as things got tough. She has the mob after her, and for more dangerous, her father. Your father? I question but she brushes it aside. The music changes and on cue, we walk out, trying to remember every single thing the school sluts had boasted of in the good old innocent days. How do I prove to them I'm not a terrified school girl, but a stripper born and breed? She almost laughed at the question. Thumbs through the loops on the sides of her jeans we walked in, looking around in what I hoped was something seductive, but severly doubted. It looked as though it wouldn't matter. Most of these guys were drunk to the kilter. I stepped up onto the stage and pulled off exactly what I'd seen strippers do in movies with the pole in the middle of the stage, and then when that ran out I scratched my memory. Suddenly all those ballet lessons seem less then pathetic. So I turned to jazz. Half an hour of embarrassing spectacle that she could only pray would never be witnessed by the people she used to know and it was all over._

_Samantha clapped as We walked out back and grinned. "That was a Performance. We're making your position a nightly line-up… where'd you learn to dance like that?" We smile at the woman, not wanting to betray the fact we feel sick to the very base of our stomach. I pulled on a thick over coat one of the others had leant me and stepped out the door, determined to make our escape. The back alley was barely lit and Sacha's heart hammered in her chest. It took me to realise why- unlike me if I guy came onto her, the chances were she couldn't protect herself. As though straight out of her imagination a middle built guy appeared in front of us and smiled when he noticed us. I felt our stomach drop out as he grabbed our arm. "C'mon baby… I've got something to show you." This line was enough to make fear flood her body and try to fend him off. Suddenly there was a quiet, rumbling voice out of the darkness and red eyes flared for a moment and Sacha got more terrified while one word filled my being; Gabriel. "Somehow, I don't think she wants what you're selling". The stench of alcohol fermented the air from the other man, and now there was a tang of fear in his sweat._

_Gabriel stepped out of the shadows and even I did a double take. I hadn't realized it, but I was seeing everything out of Sacha's eyes… and to her, Gabriel was absolutely huge. There was a moment of silence before the other man let our arm go with a curse and kept moving as she slid to the ground. Sacha looked fearfully at Gabriel. Could this be out of the frying pan and into the fire? He smiled slightly. "You're Sanchez's latest dancer, aren't you?" he asked gently and we nod. I watched him closely, looking for the traits he displayed to me- softening voice, tone and slightly parting lips. But he didn't do any of these. He just offered the terrified girl a hand and she tentatively took it. Gabriel let her hand go. "Don't fear me girl. I'm not going to hurt you." We buried our hands into the coats pockets. "Sacha. I'm Sacha." Gabriel smiled faintly and introduced himself. Then, "I'll walk you home. You shouldn't have bastards like that coming onto you." And something in his eyes made her believe that she could trust him. A thought occurred to Sacha- If I make him my lover, will he protect me? I shuddered. That was exactly what I'd thought at some point in Maryland. I couldn't hate Sacha- she was both my twin and my polar opposite, but we loved the same man, and that creates something. The dream warped and we were in her grungy flat alone, and she was brushing her long black hair._

_"You're in danger," she said softly and I frowned. She looked incredibly sad. "My Father. He wants revenge. He wants Gabriel's blood." I leant forward, and the emotion to protect what I loved surged inside me. She smiled. "That's why I showed you. So you'd understand me the way I understand you." I frowned. "I'm actually holding this conversation with somebody who died almost five years ago." She laughed. "Believe what you like. But Gabriel-" "I will protect him." I swore fiercely. She shook her head. "He's not the one in danger. You are." I went silent. "Why do you tell this to me?" I asked and she smiled again. "I think you covered it in your thought before. We love the same man, though differently. I never could love him like you do, and it made me feel bad." I frowned. "Uh Sacha? The guy killed you. Doesn't that equate to blind hatred?" I asked and she sighed. "My life was over when I met Jason Castillo. And I'd prefer to have died with Gabriel then at the hands of the mob." I shook my head and she smiled. "You're too young to be so close-minded." She informs me and I roll my eyes. "Firstly, you're actually younger then me, so don't push it. Secondly, I'm having a conversation with a dead person. I think that equates to being pretty liberal minded." She laughed but quickly sobered._

_"Vivian, I need you to tell Gabriel I'm sorry. Thank him for me." I looked at the girl. If somebody killed me, would I ever forgive them to the point of apologizing to them? I know the answer; a big fat no. I'd haunt them for thrills. I'd- "and my father… give him this." She pressed something into my palm. She took a deep breath. "I should probably let you go. I think your mother just went hysterical." I smiled slightly. "That's not particularly difficult to cause." She cocked her head. "You're like him, you know. I feel know of the same around you as him." I frowned. "disturbed, threatened, scared, violated-" "Protected." She volunteered and I shuddered. Was that the truth behind this? Where I fell in love with Gabriel, she was only around him for protection? For Gabriel's sake, I hoped not. At least I think Aiden was falling in love me up till the point I changed in front of him. "And Vivian?" I broke away from my thoughts as the dream began to disintegrate. "Keep and eye on my fathers companion. Gabriel has to tell you the truth before it's too late."_

I woke up to see Gabriel calming Esme down through gritted teeth. I smiled faintly and he smiled back. Esme did her mother thing even though I was fine, and Ocean passed me a warm muffin. When Esme calmed down long enough for us to set up a bed on the couches, Gabriel dragged me outside. "I don't like these dreams," he told me and I shrugged. "But they're so informing. Did you know your dancer had a few bolts loose in the head?" Gabriel looked confused and I sighed. "That's the last we'll hear from Sacha. She wants me to tell you, and I quote "Vivian, I need you to tell him I'm sorry. Thank him for me."" His face suddenly etched with pain. "She… she is _thankful _I killed her?" he whispered and I dragged him further into the forest bordering the compound. "I said the same thing. She said that she'd rather have died the way she did then at the hands of the mob." Gabriel sat down hard and I wrapped my arms around him. I could so easily tell him the truth- that she became his lover so she had protection, but why should I? There is not a whole lot more painful to the heart then telling someone you love them and not hearing it said back. So I bit my tongue and buried it deep. Why is deception so easy to weave? I ran Gabriel's hair through my fingers and just held him. It was as though he was only just feeling these feelings for the first time, but when he looked up and said thank you I saw in his eye what I never saw from Sacha.

I put my head against his shoulder. "She also said that danger was coming, and that you had to tell me the truth before it is too late," I said and he frowned. "Danger is coming? As if this pack hasn't had enough to last the rest of the century." I shook my head. "Danger is coming to me, not the pack. Or so she said." He looked at my face. "You know I wouldn't let anything hurt you," he said and I nodded. "Can you tell me what truth she's meaning?" he shook his head. "I don't know what that could mean," he said, but I could detect something in his voice. "You're lying." Gabriel held my head back by my hair and marked my neck with his teeth. "Fine. Don't tell me," I announced and he kissed me, forcing me to respond. "Baby, there's nothing to tell. The past is the past, but this is the present." I clung to him, thinking. Life hangs of a dime, and can change forever in a millisecond. I remembered Esmé's screams. Would I survive if Gabriel didn't? You know you're in trouble when you measure your life's value through other people. "Vivian, stop thinking will you?" he demanded and I smiled. "This is getting old. My thoughts don't," I teased, jumping to my feet and sprinting through the forest.

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We watched dawn from a bed of moss, and Gabriel rolled me over to kiss my eye lids. "I've got to go upstate to talk to Tomas's last pack. I should be back before nightfall." And with that he was gone, leaving an almost tangible musk behind. I sighed and slowly walked back down to our apartment in my wolf form. It was a long walk, and I arrived back mid morning, surprised to find Esme curled up asleep, her head on Oceans stomach, tail over her eyes. It seems Esme has come to accept Ocean. That's good- females still look to Esme for example. Bucky was gone, and I gently shook Ocean awake. She gently moved Esmé's head to a cushion and without speaking she grabbed our envelopes from our hiding place under the television. I grabbed a block of chocolate and we headed for the door, walking in silence, respecting each others thoughts. My own were bent of Ocean- the girl had to be protected. It was only a matter of time before Theodore Emerson appeared at the door to try and take her back. And to be entirely honest, I think he could be clever enough to brainwash her into taking him back. We can't let that happen. We walked down to the river ten minutes though the bush, forging a way through the dense shrubbery when needed.

I opened the block of dark chocolate and passed her a slab before placing a square on my tongue, tasting the satisfying sweet flavor. Slowly, Ocean ripped the top off the envelope, carefully shredding it, taking as much time as possible. She pulled the little test out and even I could see the negative blue tinge, her eyes bulged and she screamed in exuberant as she launched herself into my arms, hugging me fiercely. "It's negative Vivian! I can't believe it." I hugged her back as she sat up straight and proud. "You probably didn't have your period because you're extremely stressed or something," I told her and she grinned. "Your turn." I grabbed another chunk of chocolate. "I don't know why I'm bothering to even open it. I know I'm not pregnant." I told her as I shredded the top off the envelope with a long sharp claw and tipped it onto my palm. For a second my eyes passed over it unseeing as I searched for the blue. But there was none. Instead, a searing red covered it. Red as blood. Involuntarily, a long canine tooth pierced my lip and the bitter taste of blood welled with the sweet satisfaction of chocolate, and at that moment both were as hateful as the other in my mouth.


	19. Of Truth and Deception

_Firstly, I've got to say a huge SORRY for suddenly stopping writing- definitive lack of muse, and I needed to take time out to understand how everything was going to come together. Thanks guys for being patient with me, particularly Sweetly Sarcastic. Now I have my muse back, I promise I'll finish this fanfic. Yeah. Well, enjoy! _

**Chapter 19: Of Truth and Deception**

**Vivian Gandillon**

I couldn't move, I couldn't think, I could hardly breathe. Slowly sensation began to come back- the smell of crisp watercress flooded my nose, the sound of the stream running around the rocks reached me and Ocean was looking at me with a small smile on her lips. Then my thoughts came back. Should I feel excited, should I feel angry, should I feel happy? I don't know what to feel. I don't know what to think except for one thought- how is this possible? I know it's defiantly physically possible, and I'll leave that there, but how is this possible for… me? Having pups was something Gabriel and I've never talked about, but I'd always imaged a distant someday. Not nine months time. That gave rise the next thought- do I keep it? Yes. I was going to keep it. End of discussion. I think that was what made this all real for me. I'm almost seventeen and I'm pregnant. Pregnant to Gabriel. My stomach dropped. I was fine to be in love with Gabriel, because when all else was put aside I feel free to run and be myself. This child binds me to him forever by a tangible bond. Moon, did Gabriel even want pups? Another thought occurred to me. Did he do this purposely, knowing that this would bind me to him forever? I shuddered. I don't like the idea of being completely at a person's mercy, even if it was Gabriel we were talking about here.

Ocean reached over and touched my hand, and her skin felt molten. She chafed my hand. "You're freezing. Let's get you inside." I looked at her sharply. "Ocean, swear you wont tell another soul about this. Okay?" she swore and I sighed. "I need to be alone," I told her and she nodded, leaving the chocolate behind. I lay down on the moist earth and pressed a hand to my flat, taunt stomach. There was life growing inside me. Suddenly my heart felt warm. Something Gabriel and I had created. Something special and precious. How could I even doubt myself or Gabriel? Would it have his blue eyes and my tawney hair? Would it be a tiny girl who will one day understand me better then myself or a boy like Gabriel used to be, stoic to the end? I smiled. I'm bound by duty to my pack, and my mate. Does this make them any less bound to me? I smiled and wondered where Gabriel was right now, and whether he had the slightest clue our lives were about to change forever?

Suddenly I felt sleepy and my eyelids grew heavy. I thought that now Sacha was gone, the dreams would stop. I let myself go, _finding myself in an old house with paint peeling off the walls and two other people. My heart went cold, so cold I could have sworn it froze. Without going into incredible detail, I'll suffice to say Gabriel and a brunette woman were getting intimate on the double bed. I couldn't even close my eyes or move to run away from this. I looked at the man, and there was absolutely no denying it was Gabriel, and from the fact that he looked the same age, I knew this dream wasn't from the past. It was happening right now. The man I loved, and was pregnant to was playing find the salami with another woman. He was cheating on me. A tear rolled down my cheek. He promised it was only me. He promised he loved me. I gave him my heart freely and this is what he did to me the instant he left state. He marked the woman's back with his claws and kissed her hard. "I love you," he whispered and my frozen heart shattered as the image disappeared. _

It was Gabriel holding me in his arms when I came to. "Are you okay baby?" he asked tenderly, trying to warm my chilled body with his own skin. I convulsed. "Let me go!" I screamed and in surprise he almost did, but then tightened his arms, imprisoning me against him. His heat burned me. "Vivian, what's wrong?" he demanded and I pushed and pulled my way free, scratching every inch of his skin I could reach. He cursed and brought his hand down on my head in a hard slap. This seemed to full me with some alien strength and I threw myself off him. I stood meters from him breathing hard. He was bleeding profusely on his legs, arm, torso and a long scratch ran vertical down his face, marked by blood. I felt my head pulsate where he struck me. He took a step towards me and I glared at him. "Vivie, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to." There was shame in his voice, astonishment too. I stepped several meters back. "Don't come near me you bastard!" I screamed and he looked as though I'd torn his soul. "baby-" "I'm not your baby. Leave me alone," I snarled, baring long teeth in anger.

I looked at me. "What did I do wrong?" he half asked, half begged. "You know what you did. I gave you my heart Gabriel," I cried, by whole chest a slab of pain. He looked down at the ground. "Is that… a pregnancy test?" he asked and the vivid red indicator shone in the void of space between us. "You're pregnant." We were both crying, both torn in two, but I couldn't turn back. "Why did you do it Gabriel?" I cried. "Get you pregnant? Is that what this is about?" he asked and I shook my head venomly. "I trusted you and you cheated on me," I said with a sad sigh of finality. Gabriel stepped forward. "No! No, you've got this all wrong. Vivian, I love you! I'd never do that to you," he insisted, voice full of shocked pain and a painful sob rose in my throat. I scrambled back, arms wrapped around my stomach as I doubled over. "I _saw _you Gabriel! Stop lying to me! Sacha said that I was in danger, but I never thought I'd be you." I could see my words tear at him. "Viv-" I shook my head from his evil words and threw myself down the bank to the river, changing mid jump.

Power surged in my veins and I felt invisible. Moon mother, make me strong enough to do this. Make me strong enough to escape. I ran faster then I've ever run in my life, by body fed on a sable diet of white hot pain and hate. I ran faster then I had to escape Gabriel at the ordeal. I ran so fast my legs thudded the ground like a hummingbirds wings. And still I heard the desperate pursuit of Gabriel behind me, each footstep shaking the earth. I ran up this valley, up a low pass and onto the other side, heading right across the mountains, blood pounding in my ears. My paws were completely devoid of skin, worn down by hours of this speed, but I couldn't stop now. I was never going back. I was never going to feel Gabriel's lips on my skin. I was never going to hurt again. I was never going to let my child hurt like this. My heart was dead but its heart was pounding with life. Would that heart be enough for the two of us? Up and down mountains I ran, and the sun descended on the horizon and the moon rose to watch over me, urging me on. A lone wolf. I once heard that wolves only ever separate if they know they're going to die. Was I already dead but too busy to notice? Light spread across the sky and bolts of agony passed up my legs and my lungs burnt but I was past the point of stopping. I just physically couldn't stop. If I did, I'd never get back up. So I ran up and slowly everything went completely numb.

Slowly, I'd exhausted all the pain in my heart. All I could feel- the hate for Gabriel because of what he did to me. It was all I had strength to feel. I slowed down as I dropped to a valley and when I reached a high river I needed to jump I discovered I couldn't. I just couldn't to it. My limbs fell past my bidding, turning human. All the skin on my hands and feet was gone, and a thick layer of dirt stopped the open wounds bleeding. I sunk down on the massive smooth stone, my breath hard to find. I've never been so tired before. It pulled me away, it called to me. I swore I could almost hear my father's warm voice saying something I couldn't quite hear. My last thought was that we turn human when we die. So this is death. My final reprieve. The trees around me began to dim. Slowly the world faded to darkness and I was alone at last.


	20. Requiem

**Chapter 20; Sheriff Wilson**

**Requiem**

She was seven years old when she picked up the bible. Not being particularly religious myself, I shrugged. She was just a kid, how was she meant to negotiate around the political slurs? In retrospect should have taken it off her at that age- but the way she palmed the big black volume, massive against her tiny chest stopped me. She plagued me for weeks with questions. "Daddy, why did Delia smash a tent pole through that mans head if God loves peace?", "Daddy, did Noah's arch have slugs?", "If the whole earth flooded, where'd all the water go?", "Why did God make Mary pregnant when he says in the ten commandants that it is against God's law to be with child to a man you're not married to, Daddy?" And then one day she stopped. Put the book down and refused to be in the same room with it.

It wasn't until I caught her digging a shallow grave in the frigid winter weather for a dead mouse she found in her room that I learnt the truth. She'd found it dead under her bed and was convinced that somehow she'd killed it. She'd read and read and read through the bible, but she couldn't find any reference to where animals go when they die, and concluded that the mouse's spirit was still with her. She heard rustling in the walls from other mice and thought it was her mouse. What do you tell a seven year old who's convinced she's haunted by a dead mouse named Hugo? All I could. I helped her dig the grave, then secretly brought rat poison and scattered it in the cupboards. In days all the rustling in the walls was gone, and so were my daughter's nightmares. For years, every time she heard rustling in the walls she instantly left the room, thinking it was Hugo, and I automatically built up a poison regime in winter. Did I do the right thing?

I'll leave that up to you.


	21. Unhinged

_The one you've been waiting for..._

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**Chapter 21; Vivian Gandillion**

**Unhinged**

There were no bright lights, no golden gateway. Just peace and quiet that felt like the womb. And then I was back. I was still in the forest from the smell of it, lying on the same stone feeling weaker then a newly born kitten. My hands and feet pulsated with pain. I felt my cheek crack as I flinched slightly, a layer of dirt and tears. Slowly I opened my eyes. Out of focus at first I blinked several times. As soon as I did it all came back. Gabriel had pressed my naked frame close, trying to drag me back from the brink of hypothermia.

One arm was curled around my back holding me to him, the other was resting on my stomach. There were deep tear tracks over his cheek and I leaned my head closer, licking them away with a long tongue. I was too spent to feel anything but emptiness to this man. This was the best gesture I could give that I was back in the 'land-of-the-living'. Yeah, right. His eyes flickered open in surprise. "Vivian," he rasped, one word that undid my soul all over again. But I couldn't even find the energy to roll away. I've never been so weak. I concentrated on breathing. And then, realizing no matter how many times he told me he loved me and kissed me I'd never believe him, he told me the truth, a sad sigh in his distorted voice.

"My parents had six children. They only wanted three, but they got six." He spoke slowly, heart beating hard against me chest. "Having twins and triplets is something common in my family. She had a set of identical twins, first. Then she had a little girl, my sister Selena. And then about a decade later they had the triplets." He closed his eyes and I felt mine widen, but I didn't say anything. Gabriel has an identical twin? Sweet moon.

"Gabriel and Michael. She named us after archangels. You hear about twins being telekinetic, and finishing each others sentences? Well, that's as far as possible from the reality of it. We look absolutely identical, but with Michael it's as though he can't just have a relationship, even friendship with a person without _needing _to rule them. He's a manipulative, abusive misogynist bastard who will take and take and take everything that's not his and never be satisfied. Just like my dad." There was real anger in his voice. Real hate. I closed my eyes and fitted my head under his chin. "When we were nineteen years old he… he killed my dad. Dad was pack leader, and Michael wanted his power. After that I left to lead my own life. I haven't seen him since."

A tear rolled down his cheek and landed on my forehead. "What you dreamed is true, but it isn't me. Vivie, it isn't me!" his voice cracked slightly. I thought about the dream. That man didn't have the long scar down his stomach Gabriel earned from the male he'd fought off during the ordeal, or the mole in the middle of his back. His hair was shorter then Gabriel's. And he moved differently. Now that I thought about it, aside from practically perfect general appearance they were very different. How _on earth _had my mind jumped so instantly to the worst possible conclusion?!

Slowly, I felt heat enter my heart and profuse my body. I was alive again. Another tear fell onto my forehead. "I didn't tell you about Michael because I wanted a fresh start from everything. The hatred. The abuse. The ugly death. The pain. I wanted something good so badly and I found it until my past tore it away from me. Don't do this to me Vivian. Don't act like you don't care. Don't tell me to never touch you again. I couldn't stand it." I sighed and the raw hatred filling my chest slowly began to uncurl until I could breathe again.

"Gabriel?" My voice was rough, but whole. "What is it, baby?" I felt a ghost smile twitch at my lips. "Gabriel, I'm pregnant." He moved his hand on my stomach slightly, gently in circles. "I know." I buried my head deeper in his chest. When I went quiet I heard a tremor in his voice. "Don't you want it?" he asked softly and I buried my head further into his chest. "Of course I do. I just… don't think it deserves a mother like me," It felt pathetic to say something so… self pitying I suppose, but it's the truth. My rage fluttered to blissful relief, and then sharply to guilt as he wrapped his arms around me and kissed the top of my head. "You will be a wonderful mother," he told me, and when he said it I could almost believe it. I draped an arm over his waist and smiled.

Then he sighed. "I was going to wait until your seventeenth birthday, but after almost having several heartattacks in the last twelve hours I don't think I can wait that long. Vivian Monique Gandillon, will you marry me?" I felt the air crushed from my lungs. After a moment Gabriel added, "You don't have to answer now. Just think on it." I laughed and pulled away to see his face. "_You _want to marry _me_?" I asked in disbelief and he nodded. "I want you by my side forever. I want to always have you to discuss eighth amendment. I want to see the curve of your neck every morning I wake up. I want us to have a family. I want-" I kissed him hard on the lips, part to silence him and part because I could no longer control the need. "_I _want to marry you," I said, watching his face closely and he looked at me in disbelief, before he crushed me into a hug so tight every molecule of air left my lungs.

Traditionally loup-garou don't marry. We have life mates, but we don't marry. If things don't go right, we drift apart and find new mates. But marriage? That was a commitment. That said there was no drifting. Even mom and dad didn't marry. Slowly we got enough energy together to slowly sat up, and by midday we were able to make it down to the stream and wash the inky layer off our feet and hands. The prognosis wasn't good. The skin had been rubbed off until only a few ragged scraps of skin hung on the sides. Gabriel licked my palm as we held our stinging feet under the glacial stream.

"I thought you were on your way to Thomas's Pack." He sighed. "I was. Ocean managed to catch me on the phone and told me it was a good idea for you to come back pronto. She wouldn't explain herself any better." I laughed, difficult with exhausted lungs. "I made her swear not to tell anybody I was pregnant. I should have made her swear not to tell _you _anything." Gabriel grimaced. "If she hadn't, you'd probably be three states away by now." I want to kiss him but lacking the energy I settle for a smile. "You would have found me, you always do." But when he smiled this time I could see the fresh tears in his eyes and soul. Tears of relief, joy, and intense pain. Again and again he kissed my forehead. "I'm sorry for hitting you. I swear I'll never do it again." I nodded. "I'm sorry I jumped so quickly to conclusions."

He was silent for a moment. "I don't really blame you. Even our parents couldn't tell us apart when we didn't want them to." I leant back on the sweet grass. "I feel like an idiot," I pointed out and he laughed. "You scared me, little one. I didn't think I could catch you this time." I smiled. "Told you I was the better runner." Despite the fact I was buck naked in the middle of the Appalachian Mountains with Gabriel, I didn't feel conscientious at all. "You know, when I first moved in with you I felt so unusual. What is it with guys and always leaving the toilet seat up? And having food in the fridge when its due by date was a month ago?" He laughed.

"How do you think I felt? You threw out all the literature in the house." I smirked. "Because it was all porn." I answered and he blushed slightly. "I maintain that they belonged to Bucky." I raised my eyes brows. "That's funny. Bucky was just as adamant they were yours." He lay back on the grass beside me. "You think you were conscientious? Try opening the cupboard and seeing tampon packets. And all that shampoo and conditioner. Use soap, for moons sake." I rolled my eyes. "Doesn't trump having a bath to relax and finding company." He smirked, eyes liquid. "I remember that time." So do I. We lost the soap.

I moved over to rest my head on his chest and I felt his hand running through my hair. "I'm seventeen and the rest of my life is set out under my feet." I said, mind not really able to apply that one easily. Certainly not objectively, anyway. "Any regrets?" he asked and I smiled. "Ask me when I'm fifty." I told him and he laughed. "We're probably not going to live to see our fifties if we don't get home at some point soon. Bucky's keeping an eye on Esme, and he'll probably drink himself to an early grave or go a little crazy if we dawdle." I lifted a hand, showing the skin-less throbbing palm. "Gabriel, we can't even walk. How are we meant to get home?" I asked and he shrugged. "We'll find a way."

And we did. At nightfall our feet had hardened up enough for us to stumble, wincing every step down the ridge in the direction we'd heard an ambulance siren in the late afternoon. It was dawn, and we were both utterly spent for the second time in the last twenty four hours when we came though the bush to a small town the sign proclaimed to be Leone. I looked at Gabriel, who wasn't wearing a stitch, and back at myself, in the same condition. "I suspect we may not blend in with the locals like this," I told him and he smirked.

Continuing our in depth discussion of names that we'd been thinking on since we started walking Gabriel noticed a washing line with jeans on it, and quietly helped himself, leaving me with a beach towel that was still drying despite the fact the nearest beach was almost 300km away. "Selene." I winced as a stone stuck in the sole of my foot. "Gaelic for moon. Nice, but isn't your sister called Selena?" He looked around. "Do you think theres anywhere open at this time of day?" I smirked. "Rephrase the question- is there anybody who would answer the door if they could see us? We look like hippies that got incredibly drunk and lost their clothing in the bush." He smiled. "You're just twitchy because I've got the jeans and you're left with the towel." I sighed. "That could have something to do with it." The bar at the end of the street had it's lights on so we continued to trudge up the street, bullying ourselves into taking the next step. Gabriel could have accused me for being the reason there was no skin on our hands or feet, but I could argue back that if he'd been entirely open with me from the beginning, seeing his brother in the throes wouldn't have disturbed me so badly. Basically, it happened, so lets get over it. And we decided all this without saying a word. I grimaced, thinking of the little thing just behind my navel.

"You know, I reckon men have it easier then women," I told him and she laughed. "Is that right? Elaborate will you?" I put all my weight on the fence we were hobbling past, giving my soles a rest. "Where do I start. Traditionally women are meant to be servants to their husbands; cooking, cleaning, ironing, drying, sweeping, brushing and cleaning." Gabriel smirked. "You said 'cleaning' twice and 'brushing' and 'sweeping' is the same as cleaning." I rolled my eyes. "Not to mention that annoying little thing called giving birth. It's apparently an eleven on the one to ten pain scale." He looked at me. "You have a whole eight more months to bitch about that fact. Please don't start now!" I smiled. "Eight months. I have enough trouble planning myself a week ahead." He pulled me closer and wrapped an arm around me. "You'll be great, Viv. Just stop thinking about the tiny details like not being able to tie your shoe laces for the last three months." "I won't be able to tie my shoe laces for three months!" I cried and he clamped a hand over my mouth. "people trying to sleep, babe. You don't know a whole lot about this, do you?"

I shook my head. "I'm almost seventeen, Gabriel. It's the sort of thing that's planned years in advance and people become experts on in books before this." He smiled and nuzzled my ear with my lips. "It's just as well you're not an ordinary sixteen year old, then." He laughed. "You do realize that if that test you took was accurate, I got you pregnant on that night down at the river bank?" We reached the bar and Gabriel hammered on the door, getting a tired looking middle aged man whose breath was full of alcohol. He let us use the phones and to our disgust, neither of us remembered the inns phone number and had to get it out of the phone book. It rang in the inn and I hoped somebody, anybody was up this early. Eventually it was Renata's voice on the phone, and she sounded incredibly surprised to hear Gabriel, but agreed to get Bucky, but not before she told us we were smart to let 'that human girl' stay. She appeared last night with cookies and muffins for everybody, and since then she's been a hit. Gabriel asked if some clothing could be thrown in, making me smile slightly. Ten minutes of waiting later, Bucky came on the phone.

Bucky's a brick on the phone. Answers everything yes or no. Getting him to repeat the address of where we are back to us so we know he knows it is like getting blood out of stone. His last comment before he hangs up is "Your moms ironing makes Oceans cooking seem like an occasional hobby." I made a face at Gabriel and he laughed. "We're only saved from trouble because there's a mountain range between us," he said and I was inclined to agree. "What is it with your mom and ironing?" he asked and I grimaced. "When dad died she ironed for three days straight at Rudy's place without stopping until he pulled it out of her hand and then she cried into his shoulder for a further three days." I said and Gabriel looked grim. "Perhaps it's safer for everyone's sake if I hide out here for a couple of days." I shook my head. "When she moved in yesterday I took precautions. All the steak knives are hidden between the mattresses." That startled a laugh out of him, and we found a place out in the beer gardens to wait for the few hours. "Do you think it'll be male or female?" I ask and he frowns. "I don't really mind. How about Nova?" I raised my eye brows, wondering were I'd heard that before. Then it came to me. Nova Scotia on old maps. "Nova means new, right? Sounds a little bit like a computer company."

"Susannah… Suzy for short," I said and he shook his head. "Doesn't sound right. I had a grandmother called Catherine." I made a faced. "Too old fashioned. Have you noticed all these names are female?" he nodded. "Fine. Jesse." I rolled my eyes. "Unisex… if it's a boy we could always call him Bucky the second." Gabriel laughed and lying on the moist grass he spread the massive towel over us like a blanket. "Here's an angle you haven considered- we may have twins or triplets. They run in my family." I gulped. The thought of having three identical children scares me slightly. "I noticed. I don't know. All these names are common. Let's take Ocean for example. It'd original, it's beautiful and it grows on you. Even though it's a little unusual at first." Gabriel smirked and ran his finger over the skin between my hip bones. "Hibiscus." I shuddered. "Gabriel, do you think we're ready for a child?' I asked and he smiled. "Is anybody ever ready for a child?" I smiled an the lightening sky. "Opinion. If ocean had been pregnant, do you think she should have kept it?"

He was silent for a moment. "The father would use it as a bargaining chip to get her to back to him. Thinking about things like this it's easier if you can avoid the point that the fetus is a person. To be honest, I dont think she should have kept it." I nodded. "I thought something like that until I wondered what I'd do in her position. I want to be the sort of mother who protects her pups and loves them unconditionally." I felt Gabriel's smile. "It _is _different if it's your own child." He observed. "Isn't everything different when it applies to you personally?" His fingers brushed lower and I looked at him. "You and I have no skin on our hands and feet. We're exhausted and you still can't stop." He kissed my nose softly. "You have no idea how much you scared me Vivie. I'm never taking this for granted again. Wait- I forgot. We're getting married. I have all the time in the world for this." His finger slid up and down my side. I just snuggled myself close to him. "I love you," I whispered, as he wrapped his arms around me. I was almost asleep when I heard him repeat those words back to me.

This dream thing is getting old. Really old. But finding myself crammed in the back of a _tiny VW Beetle evaporated this feeling pretty quick. There was Bingo, feet propped up on the dash board and nose ring collecting sunlight. She was looked at a map of Vermont. "Boy, after three days of stale sandwiches and TV deprivation, I think it's time to call out the big guns." I saw a profile of Aiden's face side on and searched my heart for the way I felt, but I just couldn't dredge anything but emptiness. Aiden had stopped being a person in my mind, really. Now he was just a symbol of ignorant human hatred. His soft brown hair was unwashed and I wondered why on earth they were driving through Vermont. Then in struck me. They were looking for me. "Enlighten me." Bingo rolled her eyes. "As far as guys go, you don't have any foreplay at all. It's all business." That was Bingo, twisting, pulling at his frustration sarcastically. When he looked at her in annoyance she sighed and grabbed the car phone. I couldn't catch the buttons she dialed in, but the voice on the other end was one I recognized. It was Esme, and sounded pissed off. "Excuse me, does Vivian Gandillon live here?" Mom sighed. "She's a little indisposed right now, hon. Can I give her a message?" Bingo politely refuses and upon hanging up looks at her watch. "Man, this girls always 'indisposed.'" Aiden looked intense, inexonerable. A new sensation to see on his face. "What now?" _

I wake up as the sun comes over my eyes and look up at Gabriel, who stiffens slightly. I frown. "What's that for?" I asked and he grimaced. "I was expecting to hear about another explicit affair of my brothers, but from the look of hatred on you face, I guess not." I touched my face. "I look angry? I don't feel it. I just feel… cold." Gabriel sighed his name and I shuddered. "Babe, what you say you feel for the guy and the ways you act when you're refering to him two different things." I felt the heat of his skin against mine and it gave me the strength to reach into myself and realize something. "I hate him. I detest him. I don't think I'd hurt him. I don't even want to touch him. But I don't want to forget him, because if I do I think I'll forget a piece of myself, a big puzzle piece of my past. Not all memories are good, but if we forget them, we could make the same sort of mistakes again." Gabriel raised his eye brows. "You're well on your way to enlightenment. Next thing you'll tell me you're joining a convent to serve the powers that be." I gave him a look and he turned serious. "Well, that's progress anyway. What happened to indifference?" I gritted my teeth. "Indifference is when there is no way I'm going to ever see him again. Rage comes when I realize he's looking for me." Gabriel grabbed my shoulders. "He's _what!_?" I shivered slightly.

"A week ago mom said somebody rang for me. I should have taken her more seriously. Turns out he and Bingo are on a road trip looking for me." Gabriel frowned. "Bingo? What type of a name is that?" "What type of a name is Bucky?" I asked defensively. "Bingo's a mate. My only real one from Maryland. Aiden lied to her, and turned her against me." I felt my heart go cold. "If she's coming along, he must have told her about us." A muscle twitched in his jaw. "I let the boy go for you. I thought he'd have the sense to heed my warning that if he whispered a word of us we'd find him." I sighed. "If I know Bingo, she's actually just humoring Aiden, secretly thinking he has a mental illness. Bingo's got two feet on the ground even harder then Ross had." I shivered in the chill of the morning. "What scares me more is the way I was so sure I loved him. But I can't have, not really, because I only feel emptiness." That was where Gabriel was different. I couldn't _not _feel around him. Gabriel grinned. "I think you can't truly hate somebody until you know how to love them. Which proves my previous theory about our need to dominate." I laughed. "You know, there was time when I didn't imagine in my wildest dreams you ever having the cranial capacity to have a 'theory'." He smiled slightly. "And there was a time when I thought I'd never win you. The day after the ordeal, when you told me to go to hell."

I felt my eye brows rise. "You seemed pretty self assured to me." Gabriel yawned, and a long tongue snaked out of his mouth. "I seemed self assured? Look in a mirror someday, babe." I laughed. "Ocean got me right. We really are marshmallows on the inside." He groaned. "You just wont let that metaphor go, will you?" I smirked. "Eat too many of Oceans cookies and you might resemble one on the outside, too." He leaned over. "Marshmallows are meant to be eaten." He held my head back by my hair and lined my neck with his teeth. I scratched at his back, long claws drawing blood. "Do they ever actually…you know… _stop_?" A small female voice asked from around the building. I glanced up at Ocean and rolled my eyes. "Course we do. You just have dangerous timing." Gabriel grinned and pulled me to my feet, the towel wrapped firmly around me. Bucky leant against the side of the pack. "So you're still alive. I thought from the way you were carrying on that you were killing each other." I grimaced. "Sad misconception. When we really are trying to kill each other, you'll know about it. I take the time to quote Saati. Love is war without armistice."

Ocean frowned. "Actually I think that was Shakespeare in '_a midsummer nights dream'. _I would have gone with 'The course of true love never did run smooth…'" She broke off as we all turned to look at her. I get the feeling that this girl will never stop surprising me. She smiled and laughed easily with us as we piled into Jenny's small mini-van. Because she was right. Not about Shakespeare, but his words. The course of love was the most twisted and contorted in the world, and in the end, only the lucky made it to the end unscathed. Love and Hate, War and Peace. Disturbing how fine the line that divides them really is.


	22. Crossroads in Time

**_Thanks for all the reviews guys, your encouragement... horror, at times... is the thing that really keeps me motivated to drag up enough muse to write another couple of chapters. Well... enjoy! If... that be the right sentiment. Ah well, I promise, the dark hints explode pretty soon..._**

**Chapter 22; Vivian Gandillon **

**Crossroads in Time**

Sometimes we look too hard for what we need most. We can spend out whole life searching for it as hard as we possibly can, but in the end it's when we fail after an eternity of hope that we realize truly that what we have been searching for is already closer than life itself. Complexity is easy- it's simplicity we have to fright for. Occams Razor.

I knew from the second we drove up the drive way that there was something wrong. Like that night that I had sensed Oceans pain from our apartment, so I felt this, a sick wrongness that lurked in the back of my mind. Bucky had convinced Ocean to recite a long part of Othello because he never thought anybody could ever actually do that and they were both laughing, Gabriel lips were faintly curved behind the wheel- his equivalent of a full blown smile. We turned up the steep driveway and it grew in my mind. Expanded and then like a white hot sun it exploded in the base of my skull- "Gabriel, _Stop the car!_" I practically screamed as my whole head _ached, pulsated and throbbed_ with the sensation. Gabriel accordingly slammed on the brakes hard. Bucky, not wearing a seatbelt, just kept going into the back of my seat. Everybody turned to look at me, but it was Ocean who I could tell already had her mind reeling, calculating and then… understanding. As though she could somehow see through my eyes into my head.

Clutching my head I shuddered. "Ocean, _stay here_." I demanded, and when she opened her lips to protest my mouth instinctively formed fangs and I growled fiercely, a demand for obedience. "Bucky, keep her here." I clambered out of the passengers door. I had a murder to commit, and this time the participant is going to be conscience as I rip out his carotid _slowly_. I admit it, when Gabriel gripped my arm as I started to run up the road I was on a different dimension where there was nothing but this single thought. His grip seemed to bring me back. But he's already seen it in my eye. "Holy Crap your precious Persia is in for it," he muttered. "Are you kidding?" I asked. "I was going to bring her flowers. You see, this feels different Gabriel. It's getting… stronger." Gabriel raised his eyebrows.

"Please, English translation. We don't all have a foot stepped in intuition." But I was back, my mind was working again. I massaged my head as I forced the sensation back as hard as I could. I smiled slightly. "I scared Ocean, didn't I? Dammit." I looked back at the vehicle and smiled through gritted teeth for her sake. "Is there a loop-hole in this 'no-human-flesh ban'?" I asked, my lips still somehow stretched into a false smile. Gabriel shuddered slightly. "Viv, please stop smiling like that. It's making the hair on the back of my neck stand up. No, you can't break the flesh ban." And then, at long last, he clicked. "On second thoughts…" I smiled again. "We can use the car… run him down. Then we can take out his carotid _nice and slowly_…" Bucky stuck his head out the window.

"Get back in the car Viv. We'll take you to a nice little church and ex…ex…" Ocean said something to him and his face brightened slightly. "That's it- exorcize you." I raised an eyebrow and looked at Gabriel, who was going white forcing himself to be restrained. "Don't say a word. You think you'll hurt this guy?… Bucky will-" I never got to hear what Bucky would do because then I felt it getting worse. "No time. Get in the car and _back up fast-_" It was too late of course. I saw it in Oceans face before I saw it with my own eyes. But when I turned it wasn't raw emotion- it was flesh and bone that I'd come to view as the embodiment of pure evil walking down the driveway with a bouquet of flowers. Floppy copper hair curled over his forehead slightly, his faintly tanned skin looked white in the brilliant morning light and yet now I saw his eyes open I searched them as hard as I could for a soul harder than flint and colder than ice, but all that I could see was warmth and charisma that he somehow managed to exlude. I was beginning to understand how he ensnared delicate needing Ocean into his grasp.

In his hands were a bunch of expensive red roses. His eyes took me in and he smiled politely. I looked at Gabriel. "Excuse me." He nodded his head. "Be my guest." Gabriel had a bigger battle on his hands. Bucky was going to work all of this out in a fraction of a second- which meant I had to display the control Gabriel taught to me. Which is why when I walked up to the guy I only did two things. First- changing my muscles I plowed my fist into his nose, feeling fine cartilage shatter. He didn't even register what was happening until the pain struck. He had only time to roar one obscenity before I smiled sweetly. "Yeah, that's for me. _This _is for Ocean." I kicked him as hard as I could- lets just say it's dubious that he's going to have kids without a hell of a lot of cosmetic surgery. He sunk down to his knees, moaning the words 'you _bitch_' over and over in utter disbelief. He looked up at me, blood streaming down his face, and then he was looking beyond me. "Okean," he said through the blood.

I turned to see that Ocean was standing just behind me. At this word she stepped beside me. She looked at him for a moment and I felt as though time froze for a second. So this is what they mean by the 'crossroads of time'. What Ocean did now would define the rest of her life. She just looked at him as a low moan come out of his throat. "Okean, I'm shoo shoory," he gurgled, clutching his nose. He's obviously never broken his nose. Big bullying baby.

He made a move to reach for her and I whacked him once, hard on the shoulder, stopping him. He didn't even notice me. He was bending all his power of manipulation on one person. "I didn't mean to. I love you." He mastered the art of tilting his head back to slow the bleeding and started speaking normally again. "Really, I love you. Come home Ocean. Come home-" For a second Ocean seemed to sway on the tip of a knife. Some hooks are soul deep I suppose. Then her face suddenly hardened. She turned her face in profile so he could see the massive swelling that had turned horrific blue over the last few days.

"You love me." Her voice was entirely devoid of emotion. I didn't interfere. He actually cried a single aquiline tear from his right eye. Christ, this guy belongs on Broadway. "I love you Ocean. I told you, I'm sorry. How many times do I need to say it? You belong with me. Come home Ocean, come home." I felt the change in Ocean. Not that poor beaten creature that had stumbled onto our door. This was the girl who'd whispered blissfully that magic exists less than twelve hours ago. She shook her head. "You don't understand Theo. I'm home. For the first time in my life, I'm home." As though in admitting this she realized it for herself that it was true. She laughed. When she faced him her face seemed somehow to glow with some strange energy. So _this _is what liberation looks like. "Go away Theo. I never want to see you again." She paused, a faint smile on her lips. "Have a nice life." Then I noticed that a shadow had joined her. Silently Bucky entwined his hand in hers and they turned away together, not back to the van, but away, up the hill towards home.

He spun from his knees. "You're nothing without me! You hear me? _NOTHING!_" he screamed, spitting blood. He took a breath to start again but I whacked him in the throat, businesslike, pausing to smile slightly as the couple vanished around the bend in the road. And then Gabriel was bending over beside me. In a single move, he lifted the smaller man easily off the ground by his throat, forcing him to levitate an inch from the ground. For a second he lowered him to the ground experimentally and instantly he spat obscenities at me, so Gabriel lifted him again. After his hysterical desperate pleading and Oceans light tone, Gabriel's voice was deep as distant thunder rolling around the sky. "Listen to me now. Ocean has made her choice. Either you accept that or you will find that _she _(he indicated to me) is not the only person who bears you animosity. I _never _want to see you up here ever again. If I so much as hear that you've gone near her, we'll talk again."

Gabriel put the man down, and he swayed unhealthy. "She broke my nose! I'm going to the cops-" I laughed without humor. "Really? And when you do, don't forget to mention that you were coming up to try and get back the girl who you regularly beat into a bloody pulp. That might make the report more interesting." He looked at me, pure and utter hatred in his eyes. For a moment I could see Astrid reflected in them. "You'll pay bitch. You and her both. You just wait." I gripped Gabriel's arm as he painfully stalked away, taking the roses with him. Gabriel looked as though he was a micron away from breaking the no human flesh ban.

And then he was gone. I felt his presence shrinking from my mind until it was entirely faded. I looked at Gabriel. His thoughts were hidden behind his facial muscles. I put an arm awkwardly around his shoulders because he was taller then me and led him slowly away from the spot, ignoring the van. He was physically unhurt, but I could tell that what just happened hit a chord in his heart in a way I didn't understand. I suppose that's when I got another idea. No, knowledge, it isn't everything. The most important thing isn't knowing- it's understanding. I shook my head as we rounded the curve in the road leading up the inn. "You know what? I think it's high time we had a week where nothing happens. I never thought I'd say this, but I'd _love _to be bored right now."

The problem was that this was just a battle. The war was only just beginning.


End file.
